I'll participate in some of those fun/bad ideas if anyone wants to suggest some. ;)

Your attitude reminds me that Pascal's father banned all books on mathematics from the house when he was 12.

That twinge of anger when another car passes us on a two-lane highway.

I always thought Miami should have kept the name Redskins but changed the mascot to a peanut or potato.

"Some authorities hold that the young out not to lie at all. That of course, is putting it rather stronger than necessary; still while I cannot go quite so far as that, I do maintain , and I believe I am right, that the young ought to be temperate in the use of this great art until practice and experience shall give them that confidence, elegance, and precision which alone can make the accomplishment graceful and profitable."

Yeah man, light-hearted jokes are totally vile.

This is a conversation that started because 54% of George Washington University students felt the name "Colonials" is inherently offensive. As OCF points out, the Colonial nickname represents, in this case, the colonized.

So yeah, I think the opinion of 18-22 year olds in this case is bad. I also think we should ignore their opinions other times, too. Namely, when their opinions are bad. Do I actually think we should never listen to them? Of course not. So I apologize for using hyperbole as I know doing so is truly vile.

Agree with BLSS' clarifications and amplifications. Let me further add that the late Professor Wieman was not saying not to engage in intellectual discussions with young folks. That's what he did for a living. He was very, very good at it, as anyone who took one of his philosophy classes can testify. The point of his remarks, and I should have said this initially, but I, too, was kind of going along with the hyperbole, was that he didn't want students telling the faculty and administration how to run the university. You know, don't let the inmates run the asylum. [Warning: That last sentence might be a tad hyperbolic.]

And I think we can all agree the Colonials thing is ridiculous. The poll is stupid not because of the age of the polled. It's stupid because random polls with no context and asked off the cuff are stupid. So using them as evidence that people are stupid is stupid. It'd be like us making public policy based on the voting system used on America's Funniest Videos. It's not evidence of anything either way. We can always find something embarrassing that any group doesn't know about. If I polled 75 year olds about Uber and asked if Uber was a service that taught you German, I could find a result that made 75 years olds look dumb. That would be dishonest and wrong.

The Colonials issue is stupid, and it'swhy I said the only two pro franchises that took public money to fund their stadiums that still have offensive names in pro sports are kinda the last two I care about. After that we're talking high schools, and while it's a bit annoying, I'm not about to tell Podunk High School what its school mascot should be if I don't live in that town. While it's still wrong, we need to prioritize what can easily be changed and what actually matters in the public consciousness. Going after high schools is a good way to get way off track.

If the Dolans wanted to make some serious money, change the team name to the Spiders tomorrow.

Oh my, how many indulgences do I have to pay? My youthful sins have finally caught up with me. Cognizant of today's enlightenment and with great trepidation and with much anguish, I will tearfully admit that I'm a graduate of Rufus Putnam Elementary School. May the PC gods have mercy on my soul! ;-)

Yes, but at least we played our cowboys and Indians on the "Indian Trail" - a trail on a high , steep embankment that bordered a stream.

Huh. We didn't foot race. We actually "shot" at each other with toy guns, sometimes with actual caps. Sometimes we just said "bang."

Oh, and I didn't live on anything you could refer to as a "block."

Mmm. Didn't think of it that way. To get to real progress, we need to get past binary questions like, "Is this offensive?" Because I'm skeptical of how useful the question is. If you're going to ask me is Colonials offensive, I'd probably say yes. But what does that mean? Do you understand why I said yes, or are you applying your own perspective? Because for me, in this context, I'm not getting upset or "outraged," as people like to say. What I am thinking is, yeah, that's probably not a good idea, colonialism did a lot of damage and I wouldn't want to represent that. No foaming at the mouth, just a preference for something else.

Chief Wahoo is probably a good example of a flashpoint. There are a lot of people who love Wahoo. There are a lot of people who want him gone. I don't see any way you're going to satisfy both crowds. So whose feelings matter more, and why? Those are the conversations that need to happen, not, "Who is offended?"

What about the Blackhawks in Chicago?