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 Dec 30, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET
For those who are making a resolution to travel more in the coming year, here are the top travel destinations for 2012. [cnn.com]
There has been a dramatic increase in whale sightings of the California coast. This could mean increased numbers of whale or just a change in behavior. Either way it is good news for whale watchers. [latimes.com]
In India the use of solar panels is growing, but there are also complications that arise. [nytimes.com]
New technology turns paper into power. [bbc.co.uk]
Pray for Maggie and pray for her family as well as all the families who have lost loved ones to this war. Only the Lord can provide them with the comfort, peace and strength to keep going each day. Watching Maggie at the funeral and seeing her strength through a very hard time makes me feel the Lord is already at work comforting her.
Arlington is a moving place. Every American should visit that cemetery. If you ever go to Washingtonand only have time to visit a few things, make sure Arlington is on your list. Yes, the White House and Capitol are important and interesting, but they are not the reason America is strong and free.
There are thousands of little white stones with some of the most important names from all over the country written on them. Those people and their actions are why America is such a great country. Many of those people died so we could be free. I very seldom go to Washingtonwithout stopping at Arlington to look over the graves and see the Marine Corps monument. I always stop at the Vietnam Memorial too, but Arlington is a special place across the river up on a quiet, peaceful hill that seems miles away from the Capitol and politics.
Trane’s memorial service was held at his home church in Alexandria, VA, which is just south of Arlington. The Marine Corps makes you plan out your will and service before you leave for any deployment. After looking at the program, I could tell Trane had it all planned.
Read the rest of… Rod Jetton: Remembering a Hero, Part 4: A Final Farewell to a Real Hero
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Dec 29, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Tech
Many people across the web vowed to boycott domain-register GoDaddy.com over their support of SOPA. Last week the count was around 72,000 domains lost. [Techi]
The comedian Louis CK recently sold his THING on his website for $5. His goal was to prove it could be done cheaply, DRM free, and on the Internet. It generated $1 million in 12 days so it seems he was successful. [LouisCK]
Italy has fined Apple $1.2 million over their Applecare Protection Plan. Italy has a law that requires companies to provide 2 years of free support. [TechCrunch]
This is what a 5MB hard drive looked like in 1956. I write this as I save the image to my 1TB hard drive that fits in the palm of my hand. [TheNextWeb]
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Dec 29, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Life’s great –perhaps greatest conundrum.
Society has become so complex. The mysteries of the human mind coupled with mind-boggling technological advances, has created perennial questions that we may never fully have satisfactory answers to.
From space exploration to string theory to crop circles to revisiting the theory of relativity and countless intractable political and economic conditions, so much of our world remains perplexing.
But no riddle, no puzzling reality seems more elusive more wholly inexplicable than Fruit Cakes.
Each year around during the holiday season millions of people buy and gift Fruit Cakes to friends and loved ones.
That’s right, MILLIONS!
And yet no one has ever been spotted eating a piece of Fruit Cake. Ever!
Why do people buy them?
Why do others feign excitement when receiving fruit cake gifts?
And what happens to these cakes after the gift is given and nobody is watching?
One social commentator, Calvin Trillin, several decades ago posited that there was really only one Fruit Cake in the world. And it simply has been re-gifted millions of times. But technological advances have undermined this otherwise plausible theory.
Others have theorized aliens are making us buy and gift Fruit Cakes against our will by an race of sophisticated space aliens who own several thousand mall kiosk franchises that sell cheese and sausage baskets and, you guessed it, Fruit Cakes. But there is inadequate evidence to to prove this theory at this time.
Which leaves the mystery of the Fruit Cake perhaps the human conundrum least likely to be solved in any of our lifetimes.
By Sandra Moon, RP Staff, on Thu Dec 29, 2011 at 10:00 AM ET
The Politics of Food
If you’re planning a New Year’s Eve party that involves wine and cheese, here are some helpful tips on pairing the two. [Delish]
Asian tiger prawns are invading the Gulf of Mexico, threatening native species of marine life. [Kristv.com]
The FDA has yet to define what a gluten-free food is, which means that some food products that are labeled as such may actually contain small amounts of gluten. [Slashfood]
Mitt Romney is alive again. The revived pulse is measured in several forms, from a substantial narrowing in Newt Gingrich’s lead in the Gallup national tracking poll, to a Rasmussen survey putting Romney on top in Iowa, to the persistent and growing advantage Romney holds in New Hampshire.
Gingrich has some of his own propensities to blame. Before the heroic comeback story, the saga of a man grittily fighting back from despair, could take hold, Gingrich turned triumphalist: in his immodest account, he was redesigning campaign strategy in the way Sam Walton and Ray Kroc invented the modern consumer market. He reverted to the cerebral analyst coldly assessing the trend-lines.
Then, the politician who eloquently denounced intra-party infighting unveiled a caustic edge: the pundits who admired the smoothness of his jabs in the ABC debate were too tone-deaf to hear the jeers in the room when the guy who was forced out of his speakership ridiculed Romney for losing an election.
Nor has it helped Gingrich that the entirety of the Republican philosopher wing has assailed him, from the old lions, David Brooks and Charles Krauthammer, to the young turks like Ross Douthat, to the venerable National Review. Not one of them is mandatory reading in the early states, but the intelligentsia do matter in the corridors of New York and Washington, where money and endorsements should have been flowing to a newly minted front-runner with stature. The case they have made is personal and cutting, and reminds the GOP elite of why Gingrich was consigned to disgrace.
Blog this!
