Please sign the petition below to remove the statue of Jefferson Davis currently in Kentucky’s Capitol Rotunda, and replace it with a tribute to Muhammad Ali, “the Louisville Lip” and “the Greatest of All Time.”
I just heard from the Ali family: It is the Champ’s belief that Islam prohibits three-dimensional representations of living Muslims. Accordingly, I have adjusted the petition to call for a two-dimensional representation of Ali (a portrait, picture or mural) in lieu of a statue.
UPDATE (Tuesday, December 2, 2014)
In this interview with WHAS-TV’s Joe Arnold, Governor Steve Beshear endorses the idea of honoring Muhammad Ali in the State Capitol (although he disagrees with removing Davis). Arnold explores the idea further on his weekly show, “The Powers that Be.”
Click here to check out WDRB-TV’s Lawrence Smith’s coverage of the story.
And here’s my op-ed in Ali’s hometown paper, the Louisville Courier-Journal.
UPDATE (Saturday, June 4, 2016)
In the wake of the 2015 Charlestown tragedy, in which a Confederate flag-waving murderer united the nation against racism, all of the most powerful Kentucky policymakers — U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, Governor Matt Bevin, Senate President Robert Stivers and House Speaker Greg Stumbo — called for the removal of the Davis statue from the Rotunda. Today, as we commemorate last night’s passing of Muhammad Ali, there is no better moment to replace the symbol of Kentucky’s worst era with a tribute to The Greatest of All Time.
UPDATE (Wednesday, June 8, 2016):
Great piece by Lawrence Smith of WDRB-TV in Louisville on the petition drive to replace Jefferson Davis’ statue in the Capitol Rotunda with a tribute to Muhammad Ali.
UPDATE (Thursday, June 9, 2016):
Excellent piece on the petition drive by Jack Brammer that was featured on the front page of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Highlight of the article:
Miller said he has received a few “angry comments” on his call to honor Ali.
“One of them encouraged me to kill myself,” he said. “You can quote me that I have decided not to take their advice.”
UPDATE (Friday, June 10, 2016)
The petition drives continues to show the Big Mo(hammed): check out these stories from WKYU-FM public radio in Bowling Green and WKYT-TV, Channel 27 in Lexington:
UPDATE (Saturday, June 11, 2016):
Still not convinced? Check out this excerpt from today’s New York Times:
By Erica and Matt Chua, on Mon Oct 14, 2013 at 1:20 PM ET
We visited over 200 cities around the world and took over 50,000 photos, but which cities were we the most shutter happy in? We each share our favorite cities to capture on film.
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HE SAID…
It’s hard for me to pick a best city for photography. I could put all the big cities we visited onto a dartboard and justify my pick being wherever the dart stuck. The big cities of the world are so full of life, diversity, and history that I can as easily insist that photographers must shoot Tokyo and Cairo as much as I can argue the same for London or Buenos Aires. There are so many fascinating cities in the world that it’s hard for me to recommend just one city, but my wife is making me, so, for today, I’ll say you absolutely, positively, necessarily, must shoot Istanbul.
Why Istanbul? Its unparalleled mix of history and modernity, religion and race. Existing since 660 BC, it is one of the oldest major cities in the world. That alone would be impressive, but it’s not just old, it was the capital of four of the world’s greatest empires, including being the capital of the Roman Empire. As though political power weren’t enough, it has been the religious center of both Christianity and Islam. Istanbul was literally the center of the world over a thousand years, connecting Asia, Africa and Europe…when that was the known world. As the center of the world, traders, conquerers and immigrants over the millennia have left indelible marks which are still visible to the modern photographer.
Photographers who want vibrant colors and beautiful objects, there is the 500+ year old Grand Bazaar. Those who want to get up-close to religious history need go no further than the Aya Sophia, one of the world’s oldest, grandest churches, directly across from the epic Blue Mosque. Those who seek diversity just have to start walking…a photographer will find a mix of cultures, foods and history in all directions. The longer a photographer wanders, the more beauty, detail and richness he will see. There is no other place like Istanbul.
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Oct 14, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
About to take my daughter to walk through the campus at Columbia University.
I have never been and know little about the august Ivy League university.
I am tempted to brag to my daughter that had I applied to Columbia I probably wouldn’t have gotten in. Leaving open the possibility that I could have. Even though that isn’t really true. But it sounds better and is a basically honest description of my relationship to the University as a potential applicant 33 years ago.
In fact, I had a similar relationship with all other top tier universities but today we are focusing on Columbia.
When I think of Columbia University, I think of Mortimer Adler. What’s in a name, right? Well, if you wanted to make up a fictional character who was the public face of the study of philosophy in the second half of the 20th Century, Mortimer Adler would be a believable fictional name. But it was the actual name of the real person who largely played that role.
Adler got his doctorate from Columbia and was affiliated with the university in various ways for most of his professional life. He was one of the editors for Encyclopaedia Britannica and helped create the Great Books series and served as a life-long advocate for liberal arts education generally, the discipline of philosophy specifically, and the life of the mind for all citizens.
Some marginalized him as being more of a public personality for philosophy than a “real” philosopher himself. But what is philosophy anyway? Is it really primarily about who published what theory? Or is it more of promoting the questioning of every premise and answer in an effort to get closer to the truth –and the promoting of that discipline, a la Socrates and the Socratic method. On this latter measure, Mortimer Adler, was a great an influential philosopher of his time.
And by being exposed to him through his interviews and writings, Mortimer Adler encouraged me to pursue the study of philosophy in college and to be unafraid to think critically; and question assumptions and not be afraid of where those questions may lead.
So, as my daughter and I visit Columbia’s campus and try to snag a T-Shirt or sweat shirt bearing the school name, I’ll say a quiet thank you to Mortimer Adler for promoting the elusive but vitally important benefits of thinking for oneself. And for me being one of many millions of people Adler influenced to be, in their own imperfect and limited way, a philosopher in our modern world.
A modern world that sometimes seems to think it has advanced beyond the need for candid and robust philosophical analysis, but in fact is the lesser for such short-sighted biases.
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Things I fear I might overhear while walking alone through Hell’s Kitchen area in NYC.
“Look over your shoulder. I think it is one of those clueless white male heterosexuals from middle America. I have never seen one before.
My Gosh. They look just like they do on television except shorter and pasty looking.”
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In case you didn’t know this already (Or, Things I overheard today in the Broadway show section of NYC)
“The are basically two factions of people in the country right now.
There are those who love Matilda and hate Kinky Boots.
And there are those who love Kinky Boots and hate Matilda.
You have to figure out which group you are in.”
Said a young man who was working near the ticket counter and answering a question from two women trying to decide which ticket to buy.
I thought he was going to say the two groups are those who support ACA and those who oppose it. But I am from KY.
I haven’t researched enough to say confidently which group I belong to but I think it is probably Kinky Boots. I have never liked the name Matilda.
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Here’s the thing about people who wear T-shirts from elite universities they didn’t attend….
Yesterday I got to visit Columbia University. I wanted to tour the campus with my daughter and buy a T-shirt. The first thing you notice is that the actual students attending Columbia don’t wear T-shirts that say Columbia.
The first student I spoke to had a French accent and was wearing a pull-over shirt with a tiny French symbol I didn’t recognize (probably France’s equivalent of Polo that they think is superior to our Polo symbol but other people just roll their eyes at). We were lost and I asked him if he knew where Columbia University was located. He was obviously highly intelligent because he instantly grinned condescendingly and pointed directly across the street to a giant entrance gate with a huge university behind it. “There it is,” he said, “I am a student there.” I smiled (not condescendingly) and said, “Oh. Yeah. Thank you. I obviously wasn’t a student here.”
Once inside we walked across the campus and then began looking for a place to buy a Columbia T-shirt. I approached a distinguished looking woman and asked where the book store was located because I wanted to buy a Columbia University T-shirt. Adding, “You know, so people will think I attended Columbia,” I said facetiously.
She seemed taken aback and pointed to the building to my left and responded, “Try down there.”I have never bought a Columbia T-shirt but that’s because I only got a master’s degree here” as she pointed to the Journalism School we were standing just outside of.
I didn’t say anything but was thinking, “She must not have made very good grades if she is too ashamed to even get a Columbia T-shirt after she got a master’s degree at Colubmia. But that was her problem. I was undaunted. Mostly, I guess, because I made good grades in college and graduate school and figured if I had made really good grades at a really good high school and gotten involved in a whole lot of high school activities that impresses college admission’s officers and had a much higher SAT and ACT score, I could have gotten in Columbia University myself and may have done pretty well. So, for those reasons, I was completely comfortable with the idea of buying and wearing a Columbia T-shirt.
Just so you know I am not kidding myself, I would never buy or wear a T-shirt from MIT. I don’t think I could have made it there. I also would never buy a T-shirt from Duke University but not because I couldn’t have made it there under similar circumstances described above. But because students there are required to pretend they are superior to all other college students and I could never have pulled that off. While on the subject, I also would never buy a T-shirt from the University of Alabama. No particular reason. Just, why bother?
So, here’s the thing. When you were a T-shirt with the name of an elite university you didn’t attend no one really believes you actually went there. In fact, it’s a dang near certainty you didn’t. But that’s not why I wear them. I wear them because it gives the message that “I may not have gone to this university ….but if I had made really good grades at a really good high school and gotten involved in a whole lot of high school activities that impresses college admission’s officers and had a much higher SAT and ACT score, I could have gotten in Columbia University myself and may have done pretty well.”
And that is enough for me. And worth the $19.95
(Note: Later I will post a picture of me doing something smart looking, like thinking, in my new Columbia University T-shirt)
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Being in NYC means never having to wonder if you look normal.
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I have now visited the campuses of both Harvard and Columbia.
And have the T-shirts to prove it.
On Harvard’s campus it is all about Harvard. You feel you have have walked into hallowed ground preserved for the chosen elite who have trouble relating to the rest of us. The experience is akin to scaling Mt Olympus. Only Harvard Yard lore is more actual than mythic.
Columbia’s campus. by contrast, feels like it is still all about NYC–but that you have wondered onto a chic and sophisticated suburb.
Columbia is a special place, of course. But not Mount Olympus sacred. More like Mount Olympuses artsy and eclectic cousin who moved to the city–where the action is and because they are more at home walking through gritty streets than idyllic yards.
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Travel Trivia.
If you are on the 15th floor at a NY Hotel and the elevators are extremely slow and after you have been waiting patiently for over four minutes and a couple joins you at the elevators and they were the same couple that checked in before you last night and asked endless tedious questions about the room before finally checking in, and when the elevator door opens it is literally packed with people with room for only one or two more persons and the rude couple saunters in front of you and squeezes on the elevator leaving you to wait for the next elevator even though you were there first, by at least four minutes, and even pushed the elevator button, is that considered rude behavior?
Correct answer?
It is impossible to be rude while in New York.
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For anyone who questions the line in the song New York, New York “I want to wake up in that city that never sleeps,” well, it is true.
New York City really doesn’t appear to ever sleep. I stayed up very late the last couple of nights to see for myself. Like staying awake to catch Santa and his reindeer on Christmas morning.
I never did catch St Nick or Rudolph or even see any elves for that matter….but I can confirm that NYC was still humming along last night (technically, this morning) into the wee hours.
And I thought I may have seen a elf couple and someone dressed like Santa Claus and at least three of what appeared to be glowing noses. I kinda hit the jackpot!
I was walking to school with Ella last week when she said to me: “Mama, when will I get paid for work?” Thinking she was speaking in generalities I replied, “Oh, usually when you’re about 15 you can get a job where you earn money.”
“No no,” she said to me, “I mean for the job I have now, Political Playground, I want to get paid and I want a bank account.” (I swear this really happened.)
“Hmmm…” I said “How bout this. I can’t make any promises but I can try and set up a meeting for you with my boss, Executive Producer Steve Friedman and you can make your case for why you should get paid. Do you want to do that?”
*Enthusiastic head nodding from Ella*
“Alright but you’re going to have to take it really seriously and work really hard at it. OK?”
“OK.”
The rest of our short trip to school Ella fantasized about her bank account and credit.
She also determined that her account would not be at Bank of America because they’re “terrible.” (I’ve really got to watch what I say around this child.)
Steve agreed to take the meeting with the stipulation that I not be in the room. My agent Henry agreed to “represent” Ella and the result of their negotiation can be seen in this video. I’ve got to say, Ella secured a pretty good deal. Maybe when I renegotiate she can give me some tips.
If I had a dollar for every person I have driven crazy popping those addictive plastic bubbles…….. Today marks the fiftieth birthday of Bubble Wrap, the ubiquitous stress reducer disguised as a packaging cushion. Did you know that this pop icon (pun intended) has over two million Facebook fans? Did you also know that its inventors parlayed Bubble Wrap in to the juggernaut, Sealed Air Corporation, with over $4 billion in revenue operating in 52 countries? My favorite part of the story is that the inventors didn’t set out to create packaging material at all. Bubble Wrap is a classic innovation and unintended invention story.
Bubble Wrap provides us with an almost too good to be true invention story beginning as the movie script demands in a Hawthorne, NJ garage in 1957. The narrative begins with two entrepreneurial-minded engineers, Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, who set out to invent plastic wallpaper with a paper backing. They thought there would be a market for plastic textured wallpaper. Yuck. Thank goodness there wasn’t. Company legend has it that Chavannes came up with the idea for Bubble Wrap while coming home from a business trip and his plane was approaching the Newark Airport. He was staring out the window on the descent and it seemed to him as if Newark was cushioned by the billowy clouds surrounding the city. And you guessed it the rest as they say is history.
I love this story. It reminds us of how most innovation happens. Creating new ways to deliver value requires combining and recombining ideas and capabilities across silos in new and unexpected ways. Our current assumptions and approaches to problem solving and solution development are never adequate. It is only when we open ourselves and our organizations up to the unusual suspects and ideas that we create real breakthroughs. Capabilities developed for one purpose are often underutilized until we learn how to connect them to potential new purposes. We must be open to the possibilities and quicker to experiment with different configurations, which often open up new product, service, and business model opportunities. Our initial set of ideas and approaches are almost always inadequate. Success finds those that put themselves in a position to capitalize on derivative ideas at the margins.
Let’s virtualize the inventor’s garage. Social media platforms and networks provide us with the enabling technology to quickly connect ideas and innovators across silos. We are getting really good at the connecting and sharing ideas part. What we need to work on is how to create more purposeful networks. We must practice doing more together. Self-organization is the next wave of creativity and creation but we will have to get better at moving beyond the ideas to put the ideas to work in the real world. Our virtual garage is loaded with ideas, tools, and motivated innovators. Free agents are beginning to believe that we don’t need intransigent large institutions to make progress. If purposeful networks can demonstrate progress on solution development and deployment capital sources will materialize.
I sense we are near an inflection point making this a very exciting time to be an innovation junkie. If I am annoying you with my incessant bubble wrap popping, too bad, it keeps me from bouncing off the walls during these exciting times. Happy Birthday Bubble Wrap.
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Oct 11, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
It’s hard to explain why aging is a pleasant experience and shouldn’t be feared.
Sure, mostly, I guess, we get more comfortable with ourselves and grateful for what is around us and in our lives– and develop more tolerance for the small and large things that disrupt our plans and hopes. But it is still hard to explain in a way that captures well what we are really trying to say.
Think of it this way. You know how when you go away for a week long vacation to someplace you’ve never been and the first few days are intense and chaotic as you travel there, get settled in, feel the high expectations for the trip, worry about leaving work behind at the office, and learn your way around the new surroundings? Well, that’s like life from ages 0-30.
Then the next few days, you get around to following your itinerary for the biggest events you’ve planned for your vacation and take lots of pictures posing with family and feel a sense of mastery of this new exotic locale. You check off things from your bucket list and relive with those around you at dinner how amazing it was (yet quietly think to yourself that, like most things, it will probably be greater in the memory and re-living of it than it really was at the time). You feel a tinge of worry because you are over-budget but don’t dwell on it because these are important experiences and your credit card limit is high enough to cover everything. It’s worth it. This is like ages 40-60.
Then there are the last couple days when you finally have some “down time.” At last, you have decompressed and unwound enough to really relax. You put work out of your mind and have begun to really focus on where you are and what you are doing and what you are saying and who you are talking to–and what you are thinking about when you are walking alone. You really appreciate the beauty around you and notice the little things in the people and culture around you. You also realize you only have a couple days left–and that both intensifies your gratitude and enjoyment but also makes you a little irritated knowing your the long planned trip is now almost over. But mostly you just enjoy it. Like leisurely licking an ice cream cone without worrying about the calories or that the ice cream is melting before you can eat it. And you don’t worry you don’t have a napkin. It’s not about the ice cream. It’s about the experience. And everything–briefly– is in real time. This is like ages 60-80.
And then it is time to pack up and get ready to go home. Time to check the room one last time to make sure you don’t leave anything behind and have all your belongings accounted for. And time for a final “once around” the property for memory’s sake –and maybe breakfast by the pool and maybe even one last sunrise—before heading to the airport. And on to boarding the flight home where you have a head swimming with pleasant memories –and also some worries anticipating the work left undone back at the office. But you have a low-cal and low-budget pre-packaged snack to comfort you. And although you are surrounded with strangers like yourself you choose to escape with boredom with headphones and a B-level movie as you soar above the clouds and look out the window and think about God. You feel secure that the pilots know what they are doing so you don’t worry when you hit some unexpected turbulence. And you are ready with a mix of anxiety and gratitude when when you hear the landing gear being lowered. And you feel a release of some pleasant brain chemical when you realize you are close to home. This, I suppose, is like the final leg of our trip, ages 80-
“I hate shopping, except for the part where I am back in my apartment with new clothes.”
Does that sound like you? A prospective client once emailed that line to me. It made me laugh, but I get it. Shopping can be tiring, stressful and frustrating. Planning an effective shopping trip takes strategic thought. While it should be easy, often things get in the way. But, take it from me, shopping can be a smooth and seamless process. Below are 9 of my best tools and tricks for a well-executed shopping trip.
Here’s a dressing room snap from yesterday as I was getting things ready for a client.
1) Find a good salesperson. Some of my best relationships have resulted from following my intuition in a store and simply walking up to someone, introducing myself, and explaining what I was looking to accomplish. A good salesperson will make shopping hassle-free – without an overbearing salespitch (more on this in #6). They’ll also give you advance info on when the sales are and in many cases ‘pre-sell’ items to you – which means you get dibs on things before they go on sale to the general public.
2) Shop when stores are least crowded, in the morning and early in the week. Try to avoid after work or the lunch rush.
3) Shop with a plan. No good shopping decisions are ever made by wandering into a store without an agenda. Have a list, printed out if necessary – I always shop with the client’s list in my pocket – prioritized by need and budget. Consider getting multiples of basics that work.
4) Once you’ve assessed your needs (conducting a closet edit can give you clarity on that), shop early. If you need an overcoat, but you wait until January to start shopping, you’ll be out of luck. The fashion calendar is quirky and requires you to think ahead. So spend time before each season begins thinking about what you’re going to need before you need it. Ask yourself, what did you run out of, or what were you missing last year? Put your answers at the top of your list.
5) Take a break when you need one, and bring reinforcements. Pack a bag with anything that will help you stay focused – snacks, drinks, etc. Hungry very quickly becomes hangry while shopping. What else might you want to have on hand? This may be TMI, but a client once had something in his teeth that was distracting him during a shopping session. I happened to have a package of floss with me, which he was grateful for. He took care of business, and we got back to business.
6) Be wary of overzealous salespeople. It gives me stomach pain when I look in new clients’ closets and see that thousands upon thousands of dollars have been spent on items that don’t even come close to working for them. Sure, the clothes are beautiful in many cases, but if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. In one case, a client was sold a whole slew of dress shirts from a major luxury brand that shall remain nameless – half of them were different sizes from one another (he had obviously been coerced into buying whatever was in the store), and most of them hadn’t even been bothered to be tailored. The sleeves were a good 5 inches too long on every single shirt. Remember, most salespeople work on commission, so they’re incentivized for you to buy more. If they’re telling you how absolutely amazing everything looks on you, chances are they aren’t being sincere. It’s actually a good sign when a salesperson tells you not to buy something.
7) Related to the above, make sure you buy your actual size, not your fantasy size. I frequently encounter people who say that they’re going to lose weight and that they should therefore buy things that are too small for them. That doesn’t work, and it’s a trap. You’ll feel awful about yourself if you have a closet full of clothes that don’t fit you. And how can you expect to lose weight feeling crappy about yourself? If you really are committed to dropping lbs, purchase a few things that fit you now. When you have clothes that fit you as you are and therefore look good on you, you’ll be more likely to take care of yourself and reach your weight loss goal.
Read the rest of… Julie Rath: Secrets from a Shopping Pro
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Oct 10, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Remember when…
On this day 27 years ago in Louisville, KY it was a balmy and slightly overcast day in which nothing in particular happened.
And that is worth remembering.
Why?
Because more days are like that than have some momentous event occur. And we need to remember and celebrate are most commonplace day.
Just because it may have been forgettable doesn’t mean it should be forgotten.
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Trending now– “Nothing in particular”
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I wish Valvoline offered the human equivalents of a regular oil change and wheel re-alignment.
And without trying to sell me the human equivalent of an air filter I don’t really need.
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It is important to make the most of each day….and hope to have at least one life moment each day that is worthy of the highlight reel.
Why?
Think about it. What if we get to the end of our lives and it’s our time and up rolls our life’s highlights before our eyes…..you know, those flashes of our the precious, thrilling, sacred and fabulous moments from our life….and what if instead of lasting for the usual 30 seconds, ours only lasts for, say, 17 seconds? And then stops.
Well, I’d be really ticked and spend my last 13 seconds wishing I’d done more exciting stuff when I was younger.
By Artur Davis, on Thu Oct 10, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET
The conventional take on the government shutdown is that it is a colossal blunder, but one largely of tactical dimensions: John Boehner underestimating the risk of trying to co-opt Ted Cruz’s brinksmanship gambit; Cruz and his think tank strategists miscalculating public angst over the healthcare law as a license for obstructionism. All true, but at the danger of missing the more substantial reality: the shutdown continues because it is remarkably popular on much of the political right. That is still the case after a week of unmitigated bad publicity for Republicans; it will likely remain so up to and after the point someone invents a fig leaf to make it end. And a Republican base that is undaunted in the face of such a debacle will keep limiting the party’s options with its ready-made barbs about sell-outs and pandering.
And what is an even more depressing truth? Those Republicans who are most at odds with the shutdown have some complicity here too. And no, it is not that they have been weak-kneed deal-cutters whose moderation created a demand for “principled” confrontation. (I have seen only two genuine deals in Washington in nine years: Democrats bending on top bracket tax cuts in late 2010 and Republicans doing the same, from the opposite vantage point, in early 2011, and I don’t hear tax relief for millionaires as an applause line in many Tea Party venues).
The real culpability for us right of center types? They (we) have been too timid in dealing not with Democrats but with a certain variation of conservatism. Those of us on the right who envision conservatism as a brand of public policy and not an enemy of the concept, who conceive that a more cohesive society is a legitimate conservative mission, and don’t confuse the left’s newest ill conceived initiatives with the fading hours before a socialist midnight, could and should have fought harder to keep the right from becoming radicalized. Instead, we soft-pedaled our own sense of responsibility. We bargained on absorbing a hard-right insurgency when we should have been looking harder at its assumptions, and its radicalism.
When it got fashionable to peddle theories that voters—that is, our fellow citizens—were divided between productive contributors to capitalism and coddled takers of government giveaways, too much of the thought leadership of the party sagely nodded. And then when our presidential nominee got caught saying the same thing, we rolled our eyes at his political tin ear without acknowledging that what he said was actually an article of faith in some of our ranks.
We allowed a lot of simplicities to frame our positions on complex issues. For example, we undermined our valid skepticism about the Democratic environmental agenda with muddled charges that science is a conspiracy. We cheapened our warnings about the lingering depth of the Great Recession with pot-shots that the media and the Labor Department were cooking the unemployment numbers.
We showed a little resistance to the hard-right’s musings about abortion and “legitimate rape” and did our share of distancing from mandatory ultrasounds and personhood laws. But the noisiness of these culture wars seemed to worry us more than their inherently un-conservative, big government character—and in our too tepid responses, we missed a chance to arrest the gender gap that is single-handedly turning states like Virginia.
We just shifted in our seat when the diatribes about the machinations of our liberal opponents crossed lines. When the jabs evolved from ritualistic partisanship into an insinuation that we were facing enemies who didn’t share our reverence for the country, our silence implicitly condoned the vitriol.
We didn’t stress enough over the evidence of a gulf between Americans in our respective visions of culture, of the economy, of the very legitimacy of government. If we were bothered that people who view their adversaries as illegitimate will coarsen civic dialogue, we rarely said so, unless it was the left throwing stones at our crowd.
We properly celebrated the grassroots populism on the right for the pragmatic reason that it finally gave Republicans the organizing mechanism to turn our base out; and for the intrinsic reason that activism is the essence of our democracy. But we weren’t quick enough to insist to the movement-minded among us that a political party is at its core not a movement: a party exists to mobilize to win campaigns and in a fractured electorate, winning requires being coalitional rather than ideologically pristine. We developed a weakness for rewarding provocateurs with the spotlight, as if unseriousness were not a ticket to perpetual minority party status.
We were entirely justified in noticing that conservatism had been demonized into the one permissible category for ridicule and verbal abuse. But we seemed so frustrated at our lost ground that we were tone deaf about how our partisan anger played to a middle class preoccupied with its own struggles—therefore, we missed the impression that we were more outraged about our own powerlessness than the powerlessness of the blue collars who not so long ago were part of our political base.
Read the rest of… Artur Davis: How the Right Turned Radical
When I look back on my time spent in the fitness industry, I feel like I have lived several lifetimes. I have been blessed with opportunities that most would die for. I am greatly humbled by all my experience in the fitness industry but my recent endeavor tops anything I ever imagined I would accomplish. To be considered one of the best in the world in anything is extraordinary but to do it in an arena you are so in love with, makes your life. Let me recap the past several months…
On August 2nd I received an email stating I was a finalist for the 2013 Life Fitness Global Personal Trainers to Watch competition. Out of nearly 1600 entries in 43 countries, they selected a country boy from Lexington, KY as one of the top 10 best trainers on the planet. My breath was taken away. I nearly cried in the gym. After being told of the sale of Urban Active just 10 months earlier my life had taken a roller coaster ride. My love was taken away from me, the place that I felt like I helped build was gone and I needed to move on. This news was what I needed and I couldn’t have been happier.
After a long 20 days we were allowed to tell friends, family and the social media world. The outpouring of support was incredible. It really showed me how much I had made a difference in people’s lives and made me very happy that they were following me and cheering me on. I felt like I had already won. Regardless of the decision that would come a month later, this kid from Kentucky had made his mark on so many people and that made this honor a victory before the competition started.
Heading into the competition in England, I wanted to be as prepared as I could. I had clients throw different scenarios at me to test how quick I could act on my feet, something I would have to do when I got to England. I also read everyday to stay abreast of all the great new information that is imputed everyday. I was ready for this challenge and I welcomed it. With the support of everyone as felt like I could put the world on my shoulders and run with it, this was my finest accomplishment.
Having never ventured outside the United States before, I had some apprehension on traveling internationally. But I am thankful I have several clients who have traveled abroad and they reassured me everything would be ok once I touched down in the United Kingdom. And as promised, when I made that long journey across “the pond” everything turned out great.
I arrived in London, England after an all night flight with no rest but with two things in mind, listen and learn. As much as I wanted to enjoy the country, I wanted to compete and learn from the best in the world. This was about the art form I had learned 10 years ago and putting my talents up against 9 other people from around the globe and learning as much as I could from them. I did do some sight seeing in St. Albans, England, the eldest city in the United Kingdom that dates back to the Roman Empire. The town was quaint, quiet and very nice. It’s history was rich but the time I took to tour, all I could think about was what the next day would present.
As expected, the competition day will go down as my most proud moment of my career on a personal level. To represent my clients, trainers, family and my country meant everything to me. Also as expected, the caliber of trainers that were selected were the very best. We were the top 10 on planet Earth in something we had devoted our lives to and was so passionate about. There is nothing better than that feeling. In accordance with competition, we were paired with a volunteer client to train. And not only did we have to train a stranger on the spot but train them for 15 minutes and do it in front of an audience of 50 in the gym and countless live on the Internet. This brought my best out, I loved it. After 31 years on this Earth, this was what I lived for. When my time came for me to train, I wanted to bring the house down.
I met my client, Newal, at lunch and was so impressed with him. At 64, he worked out everyday, kept his stress low and legitimately enjoyed life. He had climbed Mount Everest, been on several safaris and wanted to live as long as he could. Upon meeting me, he told me to bring it! I told him to be careful what he wished for. When our time came to train, we tore the house down. At 64, Newal was in better shape than most half his age. He beautifully executed all the exercises I gave him with zero rest, he was out performing his own best efforts and making me look great It was poetry in motion and I owe it all to him. He rose to the occasion for me to show my best material on a worldwide stage. After we were finished I knew we had done something special. Now just needed to wait for the judges verdict.
In the end this competition had nothing to do with winning or losing, it was about celebrating our achievements and contributions to an industry that needs more of us. I feel as if we all won, on our way to being the absolute best in the world. I appreciate my 9 new found friends and their approach to fitness, we are all different yet all the same. The common denominator being our quest to be the best in an industry we love so much. My life is forever changed by this experience. Thank you Life Fitness, all my family and friends and my clients, this was for you.
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It was poetry in motion and I owe it all to him. He rose to the occasion for me to show my best material on a worldwide stage. After we were finished I knew we had done something special. Now just needed to wait for the judges verdict.
