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 Chris Schulz, RP Staff, on Fri Jan 20, 2012 at 1:30 PM ET
As cheap solar panels come in from China it is important to ask whether it is more important to be ‘green’ or ‘red, white, and blue’. [npr.org]
Many people have opinions on genetically modified vegetables and foods, but what about when it comes to liquors. Is it worth it for a distilled liquor to be organic?[grist.com]
How many parking spaces do we really need? We need to change the way we think about parking in the US. [nytimes.com]
The story of the Catalina Fox, near extinction a decade ago it is now thriving thanks to rehabilitation efforts. [latimes.com]
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jan 20, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
I friggin’ love traffic jams.
L-O-V-E love ’em.
It wasn’t always this way, however. I use positive affirmations about being stuck in traffic to change my perception.
If you still get irritated with traffic jams, do like I did and think of the top 10 positive things you enjoy about being stalled in traffic.
Here’s my list that I keep handy so I’m not a grumpy guy just because a little traffic sets me back an hour or two:
Patience. Traffic jams are a golden opportunity to practice patience.
Fitness. I get to accelerate my heart rate by by 30% while sitting still and do so for a sustained period of up to an hour.
Feeling Superior. I get to see people in other cars who have lower frustration tolerance thresholds than I do. (And sometimes wave to them. While smiling serenely.)
Fun and Games. I make a game to see if I can get across the bridge before the song In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida ends.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Fri Jan 20, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET
Two of the four quarterbacks set to play in the conference championship games have been under the weather. Eli Manning had some kind of stomach virus and Tom Brady was suffering from a left shoulder injury. Reports indicate they are both back practicing. The lack of practice time is unlikely to have any effect on these two veterans. However, both the injury and illness will be worth keeping in mind as we go into Sunday’s NFC and AFC championship games. [ESPN New York][ESPN Boston]
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Jan 20, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET
OK, The RP has gone ahead and done it. He’s crossed that sacred line that no columnist dares to even approach. His column this week for The Huffington Post touches on the one social taboo that is unthinkable for every true-blooded American. Read an excerpt yourself:
In my first full year as a recovering politician, I’ve capitalized on my newfound freedom to speak on the issues of the day without the restrictions of the typical partisan and special-interest handcuffs.
Best of all, I’ve finally been liberated to address — with detail, nuance, and unadulterated candor — some of the nation’s most controversial subjects: from gay marriage, to Middle East peace, to legalizing marijuana.
So today, I’m prepared to tackle the most polarizing subject of our modern era…Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.
And I venture to do the unthinkable: try to convince liberals and progressives like myself to learn to love the latter-day poster boy of conservative Christian America.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Jan 19, 2012 at 4:30 PM ET
The Politics of Tech
Surely by now you have heard that some sites around the Internet went black yesterday in protest of SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. Here is a list of some major websites that participated in the protest. [Geek Sugar]
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales spoke to CNN regarding his website going black in protest of the bill. [CNN]
Here is a photo gallery showing what the blacked out sites looked like. There are some pretty cool designs in there. [LA Times]
Results are in: SOPA blackouts led to 10 Senators withdrawing support of the bill. [NY Times]
Support for PIPA is also cracking. 18 Senators are opposing the bill after Internet blackouts. [ars technica]
By Robert Kahne, RP Staff, on Thu Jan 19, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Hoops
The polls were not kind to North Carolina after their shellacking at the hands of the mighty Seminoles of Florida State. North Carolina dropped 5 spots to #8. The most interesting state in college basketball is my home: Kentucky, which contains not only #2 Kentucky, but also the intriguing #10 Murray State Racers, who may finish the season undefeated (they play no team in the top half of Division 1 RPI), and the faltering #21 Louisville Cardinals, who will likely not be ranked after their loss tonight at the hands of Marquette. [ESPN]
USA Basketball announced its 20 man roster for the 2012 Olympic games. The roster must be cut to 12 before the games start, and that’s a shame, because this team is EPIC. [USA Basketball]
Dwight Howard is on that 20 man roster, and its almost a given that he will be on the 12 man roster, as he is the best big man in the world. He also desperately wants out of Orlando. He has stated that he is open to trades to a few very good teams (and the Nets), but now says he is open to playing for the LA Clippers. CP3, Blake Griffin, and Dwight Howard would be a very fun team to watch. [Deadspin]
Here is an interesting piece about Ricky Rubio and the translation of European basketball statistics into NBA performance. The post makes the case that Euro hoops are less about numbers and therefore opaque. Given Rubio’s stats for Barcelona and his play in the NBA this year, as well as the Brandon Jennings episode from a few years ago, I tend to agree. [Sheriden Hoops]
Last night, there was a battle between two top 10 teams in the Big XII(minus II), wherein Kansas shellacked #3 Baylor. That conference goes through Lawrence, Kansas, which is a shame, because that is a very boring place. [Rock Chalk Talk]
Blog this!
