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:
In his latest column for The Huffington Post, The RP discusses the work of a new grassroots movement that, like No Labels, brings Democrats and Republicans together to address our nation’s critical problems. It is called “Fix the Debt,” and it already involves more than 100,000 Americans in urging fiscal sanity on our national leaders.
Please join the great work of “Fix the Debt” by clicking here.
Here’s an excerpt of the RP’s column:
Already, the fear of the fiscal cliff has caused businesses to slow hiring and investments, and Moody’s, the credit-rating agency, has stated that it will consider downgrading our credit rating if responsible actions to begin bringing down the debt are not taken as part of an effort to avoid the cliff.
Our political leadership needs to take action before the debt becomes so burdensome that it severely hampers our country’s ability to compete, maintain our social safety net or create jobs.
However, there is hope.
Already, a group of former lawmakers, experts, business leaders, and concerned citizens from across the political spectrum have come together, putting their ideological differences aside, in pursuit of a common-sense plan.
This new bipartisan group, called the Campaign to Fix The Debt — chaired nationally by former Sen. Alan Simpson and former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles — has already received support from over 180,000 Americans in a petition drive to hold elected officials accountable, demanding that our nation’s fiscal path remains front and center in the public discourse.
Of course, generating a solid plan to reduce our national debt — without knee-jerk reactions or extreme measures — is an uphill climb, to say the least.
But initiatives like the Campaign to Fix the Debt prove that we do have leaders willing to look at both sides of the ledger — spending and revenue — in order to find a deal.
I want to warn everyone that reads this, if you are not open minded and are stubborn about changing the way you view exercise and nutrition please stop reading now. What I mean by this is these are 17 facts that I have learned through 8 years as a personal trainer and coach and 15 years of personal workouts. Some of these I have learned the hard way and others are as clear as day but all are a list of facts that will help you achieve your goals (as long as you choose to accept it.)
1. Steady State Cardio will not get YOU Results- I see it everyday, gym goers check in the gym and immediately head for the treadmill or elliptical. If you asked them what their goals were they would say body fat loss, increased muscle tone and weight loss. OK? Why are you heading for the treadmill then? Take a U-Turn and head for the weight section. And yes I am talking to you, all of you! Big, tall, skinny, small I don’t care we all need to spend some quality time with the weights. Period. Next!
Resistance Training will boost your Results- A continuation of number 1. All shapes and sizes should be picking up resistance training. Increased; metabolism, decreased osteoporosis, feel better and look better. What else do you need? Nothing that’s what.
The Word “Tone” Does not Exist- So stop saying it. In muscle anatomy and kinesiology there is not term muscle “tone.” When you use this term you mean less fat and more muscle or “lean.” Let’s lose this term please.
Static Stretching is a Waste of Time- Don’t stretch, warm-up. Doing the old school 1980’s Jane Fonda stretching routine is not going to make you more flexible and its not going to decrease chance of injury. Instead of bending over and touching your toes, get on a foam roller and roll your hamstrings out. Instead of stretching your hip flexors, do some explosive reverse lunges to a knee tuck. Stop stretching, thank you.
Bananas are not the only Food in the Universe that Have Potassium- quite the contrary there are better foods, with less sugar that has plenty of potassium. Broccoli, kiwis, and sweet potatoes just to name a few are packed with high amounts of potassium. Bananas have too much sugar, eat apples or kiwis instead.
Squat, Everyone- Everyone should squat regardless of what your doctor tells you, if you can’t squat you can’t use the toilet. Think about that. Enough said.
Deadlift, Everyone- “Dead lifts are for men.” Oh yeah? Have you ever picked a box off the ground? You just did a deadlift. Dead lifts are great for developing posterior strength (you need that mister I sit at a desk all day) and are a great overall body developer. Do them but do them right!
Stop Swinging the Dumbbell Around in an Attempt to Warm Your Shoulder- This doesn’t need much explanation but I see people do this all the time and it’s dumb. Your rotator cuff muscles are as thin as paper and applying this type of circular motion with added resistance is bad news. Just stop it!
Perform Multi-Joint Movements- if your goal is decreased bodyfat, increased strength and better overall bodies start squatting, deadlifting, pressing, and swinging. If you goal is to be a body builder and you want bigger arms, continue doing bicep curls.
Walking Does not Count As Exercise- Humans were made to walk, we are blessed with great mobility and the ability to run, sprint and walk. You cannot count walking around the block as vigorous exercise. You can do that with your eyes closed, try doing something more difficult. Maybe add a vest!
Less Crunches and More Planks- You want to work your core? Try doing more planks and concentrate on extending the amount of time you can hold it. Try doing less crunches, they are a waste of your time and bad for your lumbar spine.
Doing Abs will NOT give you a 6 Pack- Still flabbergasted that people believe this. Proper diet and nutrition coupled with great genetics and discipline is what gives people the 6 pack. Not crunches. Next.
Do More Pushups- One of the best exercises, period. Shoulders over hands, core and quads tight, head, shoulders, hips and ankles in a straight line. If you can’t do them, start doing them against a wall and progress from there.
Supplements are not the End All Be All- Supplements are just that, supplements for foods you can’t or do not get through food. They will not cure the world and will not give you the body of your dreams. Supplement when necessary. A few of my favorites; whey isolate protein, Branch Chain Amino Acids, Glutamine and Omega 3 fatty acids.
If you Sorta Eat Right, You Will Sorta Look Right- Want to look your best, eat your best. Next
Proper Form Rules All- Do not sacrifice weight for proper form. Learn how to squat/deadlift/press correctly. Stop bouncing and making trainers cringe. It will catch up to you one day.
Lift then Run- Lifting weights prior to cardio will burn twice as much fat as doing it in the reverse. A study showed men that did resistance training prior to doing 30 minutes of cardio burned a 100% more bodyfat than those that did the exact opposite.
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Oct 3, 2012 at 3:30 PM ET
Photo courtesy of @MarkZuckerman
It’s a Cinderella story. Or maybe a Miracle on Grass.
After losing 538 straight times to his Mount Rushmore colleagues, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt this afternoon finally won the Washington Nationals’ Presidents’ Race held on every home game day at Nationals’ Park since 2006.
Teddy’s cause had been championed by a blog, Let Teddy Win!, that followed his exploits, and even had the support of leading politicians such as John McCain, who blamed his political hero’s losing streak on a “massive left-wing conspiracy.”
Please join me in wishing the Trust Buster/Rough Rider a hearty Mazel Tov!
The current issue of New York magazine features a terrific bio piece on contributing RP Krystal Ball’s unique trajectory from phony-scandal plagued congressional candidate to current media star. Here’s an excerpt:
Krystal Ball was talking to retirees in rural Virginia when her congressional campaign got weird.
She had just given her stump speech and completed a Q&A. “I looked at my phone, and I had a text message from my husband. And he said, ‘Everything’s fine. But after you’re done there, don’t talk to anyone, don’t check your e-mail, don’t call anyone, just call me immediately. And you may want to be alone. Like, not even with your staffers.’”
This did not sound to Ball like everything was fine. She wrapped up the event, went outside, and called her husband.
“He says, ‘Everything really is fine, but there’s some pictures that came out. Do you remember a party that you went to — ’ and he starts describing them.”
The photos showed Ball wearing a Santa hat with a black bustier at the age of 22.
In her hands were a festive Solo cup and a leash attached to a young man, who wore antlers on his head and a Rudolph-red dildo on his nose. In some of the especially hilarious photos, Ball and her companions fellated the dildo nose.
When her husband texted, the pictures were only on a local conservative blog, but it seemed unlikely they would stay there for long.
Ball’s campaign had always been a long shot: She was a 28-year-old Democrat running against a Republican incumbent in Virginia’s conservative-leaning first district. And if it hadn’t been for those “XXX-Mas” party photos, she might have remained a 2010 congressional also-ran, waiting in obscurity for the next election year. Instead, the photos made their way into the national media — and Ball responded forcefully, acknowledging the pictures anddenouncing sexual double standards. She ended up with regular guest spots on Fox News and MSNBC, and now, two years later, she’s one of four co-hosts on MSNBC’s new daytime show The Cycle.
Sex and scandals sell, particularly when the subjects are young and attractive — this is not news. But what makes Ball’s story interesting is that it demonstrates the power of transparency. She’s staked her career on the belief that personal disclosures aren’t incompatible with professional legitimacy.
“I find it so astonishing how poorly a lot of politicians handle negative whatever in the press,” she says. “You have to just get it all out there. You have to be totally, uncomfortably honest.”
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Oct 3, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Trying to wake up but don’t have any coffee?
Here’s an eye-opener that just might do the trick for you…..
One of my favorite lines from the movie My Dinner with Andre.
ANDRÉ:
You see, Wally, the trouble with always being active and doing things is that it’s quite possible to do all sorts of things and at the same time be completely dead inside.
I mean, you’re doing all these things, but are you doing them because you really feel an impulse to do them, or are you doing them mechanically, as we were saying before?
Because I do believe that if you’re just living mechanically, then you have to change your life. I mean, you know, when you’re young, you go out on dates all the time, you go dance or something, you’re floating free, and then one day you find yourself in a relationship, and suddenly everything freezes. And this can be true in your work as well.
And I mean, as long as you’re really alive inside, then of course there’s no problem. I mean, you know, if you’re living with someone in one little room, and there’s a life going on between you and the person you’re living with, well then, you know, a whole adventure can be going on right in that room.
But there’s always that danger that things can go dead. And then I think you really do have to kind of become a hobo or something, you know, like Kerouac, and go out on the road. I really believe that. I mean, it’s not that wonderful to spend your life on the road. I mean, my own overwhelming preference is to stay in that room if you can!
Now, of course, if you live with somebody for a long time, people are constantly saying, “Well, of course it’s not as great as it used to be, but that’s only natural. The first blush of a romance goes, you know, and that’s the way it has to be.” Now, I totally disagree with that. But I do think you have to constantly ask yourself the question, with total frankness, is your marriage still a marriage? Is the sacramental element still there?
Just as you have to ask about the sacramental element of your work—is it still there?
And I mean, it’s a very frightening thing to have to realize suddenly that, my God, I thought I was living my life, but in fact I haven’t been a human being. I’ve been a performer. I haven’t been living. I’ve been acting. I’ve acted the role of the father. I’ve acted the role of the husband. I’ve acted the role of the friend. I’ve acted the role of the writer or director or whatever. I’ve lived in the same room with this person, but I haven’t really seen them. I haven’t really heard them. I haven’t really been with them.
The colorful, pivotal Missouri Senate race has had something for everyone — especially political junkies and poker fans. And there’s still time for at least one more twist.
First there was Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill’s unusual participation in the Republican Senate primary. Armed with poll numbers indicating Representative Todd Akin would be her weakest opponent in November, she ran anti-GOP ads that were actually designed to stroke right-wing erogenous zones by dubbing Akin a “pro-family … true conservative.” Her strategy, akin to keeping a poker opponent with a weak hand from folding, worked beautifully. Akin won the primary.
Then, after Akin’s infamous “legitimate rape” comments prompted calls from the GOP Establishment that he step down, he called the bluff of the National Republican Senatorial Committee by staying in the race. That tactic worked as well — Republican endorsements and funding came flooding back after the deadline for Akin’s withdrawal passed.
Now, with 35 days left until the election, it may be time for McCaskill to deploy one final gambit: ads that subtly promote the Libertarian candidate, a heavily tattooed personal trainer named Jonathan Dine.
Dine, who sports “Legalize Marijuana” ink across his chest, has more than a little electoral baggage, especially two felony convictions for marijuana possession and identity theft. He is actually ineligible to hold state office in Missouri, but could still play spoiler in the Senate race. At a three-candidate debate last week, he got in the last word: “I promise to keep Republicans out of your bedroom and the Democrats out of your wallet.”
Read the rest of… Jeff Smith: Why Claire McCaskill Should Promote a Tattooed Felon to Defeat Todd Akin
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Oct 2, 2012 at 5:00 PM ET
Here’s picture proof that something can be both obnoxiously disgraceful and spiritually uplifting at the same time.
Trolling through Harvard Yard before I speak to the Harvard Hillel at 5:30 PM this afternoon about “The Liberal Case for Israel” — Join us 52 Mount Auburn Street if you are in the area — I noticed the door open to my old freshman dorm room. After begging the unfortunate current teen resident to let this old codger in, I noticed that the Springsteen poster, rows of beer cans and “couch of death” (don’t ask) from 1985-86 were no longer wreaking sensory havoc.
Instead, it was sort of a spiritual journey. This was the room where I finally gained my independence, made lifetime friends, and began a whole new life’s chapter. Too many memories — mostly great, some tragically embarrassing — flashed back in an instant. And when I snapped the picture above, I realized I was capturing the very spot at which I first professed my crush (telephonically, and a bit intoxicated of course) to my now wife of 23 years.
I cherish my college years, but the first will always be the most special. And my freshman dorm room will always occupy a very, very important place in my deeply nostalgic heart.
So, thanks to the guys of Holworthy Hall for letting me be a little creepy. Hopefully, it will embolden you to embarrass the next generation of freshman when you too get to middle age.
All the election news lately has been about arguments traded back & forth between Obama & Romney, or Romney’s campaign woes, or Paul Ryan’s getting booed at an AARP convention. Sort of makes me feel sorry for Joe Biden. First of all, he’s running for an office once famously equated with “a warm bucket of spit”. And he can’t even stand out in those races – four years ago he was totally overshadowed by Tina Fey’s look-alike, and now he’s running against someone who makes a whole different set of headlines. (Apparently, the week Ryan was announced, that week’s most frequent google search was “Paul Ryan Shirtless”, and more than one comic hypothesized that the week’s least frequent google search was “Joe Biden Shirtless”.)
But do a little research about Biden, and you’ll find that his ‘everyman’ cred is genuine. He graduated near the bottom of his class in both college & law school, he is one of the least wealthy members of Congress, and he’s well-known for making verbal slips (or at least prematurely ‘outing’ Obama’s support for gay marriage). (He’s had quite a distinguished career, including being one of the longest serving senators in history.) So I decided poor Joe deserved a little musical love . . .
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Oct 2, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Always question assumptions.
For a successful life.
And to avoid motion sickness.
“Ok. I am serious about finally getting some balance in my life,” he said—as he had been saying fairly regularly and unsuccessfully for the past 30 years.
You had to admit he was a persistent fella–especially about things he didn’t seem very committed to. Like getting balance in his life.
And then he had an epiphany:
“People who have really honed their ability to balance themselves end up being professional tight rope walkers and travel with a circus troupe and have to carry a long thin balancing bar with them everywhere.”
“Yuck!” He thought to himself. “What was I thinking? I have severe motion sickness and would struggle trying to make a living with a traveling circus show.”
And at that precise moment, John decided to quite trying to be a professional tight rope walker. Embraced his imperfections and native gifts for creating imbalance in his life almost as effortlessly as the young Mozart wrote beautiful music.
And he lived happily, for the most part, ever after.
And never experienced guilt -or motion sickness again.
Blog this!
