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 Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Dec 15, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Tech
SOPA is going to the House for a vote today. I’ve posted a lot about it the last few weeks, but now is decision time. [Mother Jones]
GPS satellites are getting an upgrade! The new satellites currently being tested claim to be able to track within 3 feet, much more precise than the current 10 feet. [Discovery]
A 17-year-old named Angela Zhang has won $100k for discovering a cancer-killing nanoparticle. [Geek]
It has recently come to light that Download.com which is run by CNET (which I happen to like) has been secretly installing adware. Not cool. [EFF]
Here is a video of a light wave shown at 1 Trillion FPS. [Camera Culture]
By Sandra Moon, RP Staff, on Thu Dec 15, 2011 at 10:00 AM ET
The Politics of Food
Acidulated, botrytis, chapuline–if you consider yourself a foodie, you should know these three words in addition to 47 others. [Huffington Post]
Are you hosting a holiday dinner? If so, prepare yourself for giving the toast by reading these simple guidelines. [Bon Appetit]
In order to be labeled”extra-virgin,” olive oil cannot been refined in any way by chemicals or high heat. The EVOO you buy at the store, however, may not actually meet those requirements. [NPR]
The RP’s Recipe of the Week: Kale Chips. They’re delicious, easy to make snack, and nutritious.
By Patrick Derocher, on Thu Dec 15, 2011 at 9:15 AM ET
A man in Florida certainly gets points for trying, after he willed his home to the federal government to pay down the National Debt. James H. Davidson, Jr. passed away last December at the age of 87 and in his well, left his $1 million home in Coral Gables to the United States government, with the stipulation that its sale be used to chip away at the deficit. The home sold at auction for $1.175 million, and its contents will be auctioned off next month. Davidson had lived in the 1929 Spanish-style house since he was a teenager. [Miami Herald]
Contributing RP Tom Allen, former Congressman from Maine is promoting local efforts to promote math and science education in public schools:
Former U.S. Rep. Tom Allen said providing Maine students with more engaging math and science programs is a pathway to a stronger economy Tuesday during the official unveiling of The Reach Center, a new organization aiming to do just that.
Allen touted the new organization, which hopes to provide individual student mentorships and a central clearinghouse for innovative math and science programs around the state, as poised to play a key role in Maine’s economic future.
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Dec 14, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Today, we introduce an exciting new feature at The RP: John Y.’s “Musings from the Middle.”Contributing RP and former Kentucky Secretary of State John Y. Brown, III, has set Facebook on fire the past few months with his thoughtful, often hilarious posts on his Facebook page. Having reached the limit of 5000 friends, John Y. is now sharing his wit and wisdom with the RP Nation as well. Enjoy, and be sure to fire away in the comments section.
New habits are almost always achieved incrementally.
A handy tool is the “stages of development” between an old habit and the adoption of a new habit. For example, the stages for adopting a fitness regimen. For me, the 8 Stages have been as follows.
Disgust. Hitting bottom with one’s weight and/or appearance.
Joining a gym. Purchasing a gym membership.
Circling. Driving to the gym and circling it several times in your car before leaving.
Entering. Going inside gym and meeting person at front desk and using restroom. Before leaving.
Augmentation. Joining a second gym.
Canceling. Terminating both gym memberships
Acceptance. Making peace with your weight and appearance as it is.
Contrition. Doing an act that salves a sense of guilt and failure (e.g., joining a morning mens accountability group—but one that serves doughnuts.)
By Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, on Wed Dec 14, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
Even though 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women use birth control during their reproductive years, U.S. bishops are fighting it
Last month, the Vatican issued a clarion call to all people of conscience. It wasn’t about contraception or masturbation or gay marriage or any of the other aspects of peoples’ love lives have drawn religious ire through the ages. Instead, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace stepped forward to question the morality of a global economic system that relentlessly enriches a privileged few while the rest of humanity struggles to keep their heads above water.
The council reaffirmed the notion highlighted in Pope Benedict XVI’s 2009 encyclical on the economy, arguing that open markets — usually the engines of prosperity — can foster poverty and inequality when unscrupulously exploited for selfish ends. As a counterbalance, the council called for international standards and safeguards to stem the world’s worsening inequities in the concentration of wealth.
With millions of Americans looking for jobs and struggling in this economy, you might expect the nation’s Catholic bishops to join the Vatican’s quest to level the economic playing field. However, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have other priorities. They are consumed just now with the subject of birth control. The bishops’ leadership is unhappy about a new national policy that includes birth control under preventive health care: a designation that requires new health plans to cover it in full, without the co-payments and deductibles that keep many women from using it effectively. This policy, which was adopted last summer and goes into effect next August, is both laudable and common-sense.
With yesterday, the 8th day of December, marking the Feast of the Immaculate Conception — which refers to Mary’s being conceived free of original sin, not the conception of Jesus — it would be wise of the bishops to realize that the conception of Mary by her human parents, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, is a reminder that woman are people of conscience and can decide for themselves when it is best to conceive. In fact, birth control use is universal, even among Catholic women: 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women use birth control during their reproductive years.
Read the rest of… Kathleen Kennedy Townsend: Out of Step With the Flock
As the college age population, including those who take online college classes, enters into the final exam period of the semester across the country,many students feel the stress that accompanies excessive numbers of papers and exams. See here for a list of the schools that feel it the most. [Daily Beast]
There are countless causes of stress in college. See here for a brief overview of some reasons and methods for dealing with it. [Fox News]
As a way of coping with long nights of studying, many college students are turning to prescription medication to help retain their focus. Duke University recently changed its honor code to include unauthorized use of these drugs as cheating. See here for the effects of these drugs on college students, as well as an article on Duke’s newest policy. [OregonRXSummit][Daily Tarheel]
We have often heard that people are either visual or auditory learners. It appears, however, that there is little evidence to support any real differences in an individual’s ability to learn using either technique. [NPR][APS]
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