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 Ronald J. Granieri, on Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
After a four-month labor standoff, the NFL owners and players managed to agree to a new ten-year agreement that will guarantee the season will start on time. For me, that means the Buffalo Bills will open their 52nd season on September 11. In fact, as I finish this piece, the Bills are in Chicago getting ready for their first preseason game tonight. I can hardly wait.
Yes, I am excited to see the latest season of a team that finished 4-12 last year, and that has had one winning season (and two 8-8 records) since 2000.
The team that last went to the playoffs during the Clinton administration—only to be robbed of victory by a heartbreaking piece of semi-legal deception known to people outside of Western New York as “Home Run Throwback.”
[People in Western New York know it by a variety of other names, none of them suitable for this family website…]
Scott Norwood, wide right
Yes, the same team that went to four consecutive Super Bowls in the early 90s—losing the first one on an achingly close field goal attempt (videos of which I admit to watching many times, hoping for a different result), then the next three in different but equally painful manners.
A half-Letterman pop-culture list? That’s a very difficult assignment for me. Today I don’t have much time to absorb any mass-media entertainment streams. Though I did consider subscribing to HBO just to be able to watch the documentary “Superheroes.” (I ultimately decided against it.)
When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait for Saturday morning so I could watch the Super-Friends in action. Today, I am much more interested in real-life social justice, than I am in the Justice League.
Today, through my aging eyes, super heroes just seem like fascist bullies (who must have never watched The People’s Court).
The best arguments by Karl Marx aside– I really don’t want a bunch of violent vigilantes to be the role models for my children. Worse, still– the genre typically depicts women in a sexist manner, all scantily clad and inhumanly proportioned.
So are there any supers left in the world that I can still respect and admire?
Maybe about a Rob Fleming list full:
5.) The Original Superman, Kal-L
The hospitality that Mary and Pa Kent (later rewritten as Martha and Jonathan Kent) showed to this undocumented immigrant is worthy of admiration alone. In Action Comics #1, Lois Lane also sets a good example for challenging the status quo and Superman tackles corrupt politicians. With SupermanÔøΩs second appearance in Action Comics #2, the hero confronts a munitions manufacturer hoping to profit on the war in Europe. In the next issue, he corrects a heartless mine owner who won’t give a crippled miner a pension after he was caught in a cave-in.
In a 1975 press release, Superman creator Jerry Siegel wrote, “What led me into creating Superman in the early thirties? Listening to President Roosevelt’s fireside chats, being unemployed and worried during the depression, knowing homelessness and fear, hearing and reading of the oppression and slaughter of helpless oppressed Jews in Nazi Germany, and seeing movies depicting the horrors of privation suffered, I had the great urge to help the downtrodden masses, somehow. How could I help them when I could barely help myself? Superman was the answer.”
The only thing keeping the 1930s Superman from a higher spot in the countdown would be the fact that his treatment of the baddies could sometimes make water-boarding look a little tame by comparison. Of course, this was all changed by the comics code of the 1950s– but by that point, Superman was already shying away from changing the system, taking down the KKK, demolishing slums, correcting exploitative business leaders, etc…. and was already evolving into the more jingoistic big blue boyscout that he would remain thereafter.
I briefly entertained the idea of putting Batman on the list after reading this, though, unfortunately, he was just flat wrong when he said that Batman doesn’t kill:
4.) Coming in at number four in the countdown: A tie…
Had any of these comics seen a larger mainstream run, they would be at the very top of the list. Because most of these titles are no longer in print, the number four spot is a 3-way tie between:
4.c.) Cyberella, Sunny Winston and ‘Lil Ella
Unfortunately this series lasted only 12 issues. So few graphic novels deal with systemic classism, but this was one that empowered us with the message that even in a society where those who have the gold make the rules, the human soul cannot be bought.
4.b.) Grace
Created by Barbara Kesel, Amazing Grace first appeared in Comics’ Greatest World: Golden City in 1993. Grace was a smart, powerful character who used her super powers to better the world in practical ways. She ran Golden City and defended it from many threats; the main one came from the United States.
4.a.) Winged Victory, Kristin (last name unknown)
Winged Victory is an independent heroine and champion of women’s rights. The hero established and maintained a number of women’s centers (originally shelters) and clinics, and is a vocal and passionate spokeswoman for the political, legal, and social emancipation of women. (Kurt Busiek’s Astro City is actually still being published, but Winged Victory is so rarely seen that the highest that she can go on our list is fourth place.)
3.) The Green Arrow, Ollie Queen
In 1969 Denny OÔøΩNeil miraculously transformed the Green Arrow from a cheap Batman/Robin Hood hybrid knock-off into an outspoken advocate of the underprivileged and oppressed. In the early 1970’s Oliver Queen became a heroic voice against racism and corruption. Writer O’Neil and illustrator Neal Adams paired Green Lantern and Green Arrow and sent them on an “easy rider” tour of the nation. The brief series dealt with pollution, overpopulation, drug addictions, and more. While Green Lantern was the straight-laced law-and-order type, Green Arrow was the indignant advocate of true social change. Unfortunately, though, a comic book character is only as good as the author and artist du-jour: While everything with this character before 1969 is really bad, everything about Green Arrow between 1987 and 2001 is even worse– the hero was rewritten as merely a cold-blooded, violent vigilante during the entire 1990s.
Read the rest of… Chris Skidmore: Top 5 Admirable Superheroes
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Tue Aug 16, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Leave it to the New York Post to take something as unsexy as the stock market and turn it into a scandal. [NY Magazine]
Jon Stewart defending Michele Bachmann? The comedian calls out Newsweek and its editor, Tina Brown, for its “crazy eyes” photo of Bachmann on the magazine’s cover. [Gawker]
What’s more surprising: the fact that a Des Moines TV station questioned a commercial Stephen Colbert was paying the station to run hours before the Iowa straw poll an hour before it was supposed to air, or that two other stations didn’t question the commercial at all? [Time]
Check out sone creative advertisements that make you look twice. [Hong Kiat]
If newspapers are the new vinyl, does that mean that newspaper readers are hipsters? Didn’t think so. [Poynter Institute]
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s the dog days of summer! I’m starting to think August is the worst month of all twelve: ridiculous heat and humidity, no major holidays, back-to-school shopping, Congress on vacation (OK, maybe that’s the one redeeming aspect), and so on. Yes, I know pre-season football is gearing up, but don’t forget that we are closing in on MLB pennant races. A bright spot indeed! As Pujols, Jeter, Lincecum, and Halladay jockey for the post-season, let’s talk to someone who very well may be there in a few years.
I grew up with Andrew Pevsner in Southern California, and remain close friends with him today. But while I’m sitting in classrooms suffering through law school’s Socratic Method, Pevsner is warming up in the bullpen for the Great Lakes Loons. The Loons are the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Single-A minor league club in Midland, Michigan, and Pevsner is one of their southpaw relievers. Drafted in 2010 out of Johns Hopkins, Pevsner spent his first professional season playing Advanced Rookie ball for the Raptors in Ogden, Utah. Let’s take an inside look at what it’s like to play professional baseball and live nearly every boy’s childhood dream.
Zac Byer: You have mentioned that you were not following the draft when you were selected, but rather you started receiving congratulatory text messages from friends after the pick. Did you have any expectations of being drafted, let alone in the 16th round?
Andrew Pevsner: Not really . . . I hadn’t heard from any clubs for a few weeks leading up to the draft. It had been about 10 days or so since our college season ended, I was hoping to try to get myself back into great shape and maybe go to some workouts and try to sign as a free agent after the draft.
ZB: Who called you from the Dodgers to let you know that you had been drafted? What did he say to you?
AP: My scout from the Dodgers, Clair Rierson called me. I was so excited when we were talking that I don’t fully remember what we said. I do remember him asking me how I was feeling, and telling me that someone would call me with more details later that night.
ZB: You got the call from Rierson and found out you were going to play professional baseball for your favorite team – were you able to take a breath and enjoy the accomplishment, or were you into a new routine right away?
AP: There were only about ten days between the time I got drafted and the time we went to Ogden. I took the first night to celebrate and try to soak up the moment. After that, I spent about four days working out and throwing in Baltimore before I flew to Camelback Ranch [in Arizona] for a couple days of physicals and workouts. From there we flew to Ogden.
ZB: What’s a typical day like for you now?
AP: It really depends on where we are. If we’re at home, and it’s not a lift day, I’ll get to the ball park between 1 and 2 in the afternoon. Pitchers stretch, throw and condition before shagging batting practice. After BP we have some time to get some food in the clubhouse and get ready for that night’s game.
ZB: What has been the most surprising aspect of being a minor league baseball player?
AP: You hear guys talk about the grind and staying even-keeled through all the ups and downs, but it’s something that you can’t really appreciate until you go through it.
ZB: What has been the most challenging aspect of the last few seasons in the minors?
AP: Baseball is a humbling game. Everyone fails at some point or another. Most players fail repeatedly. Learning how to deal with failure so that you can fail less often and for shorter periods of time has probably been the hardest part.
Read the rest of… Zac Byer: An Interview with L.A. Dodgers Minor League Pitcher Andrew Pevsner
When I first saw the name of this race I wondered why they called it 1 Insane race, but after running it I totally understand.
First of all, who starts any kind of race in July at 5:00pm? I don’t know what I was thinking when I registered for this 15k or why I thought it would be cool by 5pm, but I was wrong. In July the sun is not even close to going down at 5pm; as a matter of fact it was still quite high in the sky, and I am slightly sunburned from the “late” afternoon race.
I made a wise decision before this race and stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom. Turns out there were no bathrooms at the race, so I avoided the problem with going I had at the July 4th half marathon I ran.
For the record, it was 102 degrees when we started this painful session at 5pm. As soon as I got out of the car to go check in at the registration table I started sweating. I checked in at 4:43, changed into my running shoes and put on my camelback. Unfortunately, I didn’t double tie my shoes and when the race started they came untied, and I had to stop about 50 yards into the race to retie them.
I really didn’t worry about that much because I wasn’t running for time, but I thought how that would have driven me crazy back in my college days. Needless to say I was in last place at that point.
Soon after the start, another aspect that drove many of us insane were the course markings and turns. I have no idea what language they were written in but it was not English. This race took place at Camp Galilee so I assume it was Hebrew, or maybe Greek, but I had no idea what they met. While it seemed like most of us were nice Christian runners, I don’t think we had many Hebrew Bible scholars in the crowd because we all got lost (except for me- Marines are never lost just occasionally disorientated). I knew things were not going as planned when I met the fast runners coming towards me about a mile into the race.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Aug 15, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Pompatus of Tech
Mark November 5 down on your calendars, folks! The hacker group Anonymous has stated that they will “kill Facebook” on that date. Keep in mind that November 5 was not chosen at random. I probably don’t have to remind you to check Facebook on that date, which, I believe, is the whole point. [Business Insider]
Those of you who use LinkedIn, may be interested in this: Apparently, LinkedIn has added a default setting that allows names and photos of users to be used by third-party advertisers. The link will tell you how to opt-out of this setting. Also check out the update in the link that includes LinkedIn’s response. [Connection Agent]
Check out this cool archived story from CNN regarding the origins of texting using cell phones. It’s pretty interesting to go back and see how our use of cell phones has evolved. [Wayback Machine – CNN]
A new study from California State University indicates that 3D technology does not increase enjoyment from watching movies and increases the likelihood of developing headaches, something most of you likely have discovered empirically. Plus, watching a movie in 3D costs more! [Guardian UK]
By Jason Atkinson, on Mon Aug 15, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
A first here at The Recovering Politician: Contributing RP Jason Atkinson directed and produced the following short film about a trout-fishing trip he took last week with his son in Montana. Stay tuned to the end for an hilarious, live-action imitation of Big Mouth Billy Bass (You know…the singing fish mounted on the wall):
Blog this!
