# Insensitive Memorials **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824 "2012-06-30T17:28:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/41 "2012-07-02T02:29:57Z")
Suburbia: Where they name the roads after the trees that used to be there. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/42 "2012-07-02T02:34:31Z")
The [Flight 93 Memorial](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_93_National_Memorial) as originally proposed. The design didn’t bother me any, but apparently some thought it was inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/43 "2012-07-02T02:41:02Z")
If you don’t like this, isn’t naming diseases after people worse? Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig disease… > [@even\_sven](#): > > Lhasa has the enormously unappreciated [Monument to the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_the_Peaceful_Liberation_of_Tibet). It’s placed in a gaudy plaza directly across from the scarred, empty Potala Palace, and it needs 24/7 military protection to keep it from being defaced. Liberation of Tibet? I thought people were still asking for its liberation? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/44 "2012-07-02T02:49:02Z")
Now I’m thinking Cracked needs a “Insensitive Memorials” photoshop contest. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/45 "2012-07-02T03:39:36Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Liberation of Tibet? I thought people were still asking for its liberation? It refers to China’s [liberation of the Tibetanese people from themselves](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_of_Tibet_into_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China) in 1950. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/46 "2012-07-02T04:02:25Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > The [Flight 93 Memorial](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_93_National_Memorial) as originally proposed. The design didn’t bother me any, but apparently some thought it was inappropriate. Oh, James Lileks, you are a hoot. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/47 "2012-07-02T12:49:27Z")
> [@Sinisterniik](#): > > If it were a 747 for a memorial then we’d be talking. None of the planes involved in 9/11 were 747s. [UA Flight 175](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_175) was a Boeing 767-200 [AA Flight 11](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_11) was a Boeing 767-223 [AA Flight 77](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_77) was a Boeing 757-223 [UA Flight 93](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_93) was a Boeing 757-222 ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/48 "2012-07-02T13:11:27Z")
Two Swedish race drivers died in 1978; [Ronnie Peterson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Peterson) in a car crash and [Gunnar Nilsson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunnar_Nilsson) of cancer. After Peterson’s death fans started a foundation in his name with the intent to promote go-kart racing among young people. I, personally, find this equivalent with the foundation in Nilsson’s name, that his mother started, promoting cancer instead of fighting it. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/49 "2012-07-03T00:25:55Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > Another example of what I consider to be a stunningly insensitive memorial is this [monument raised in 2010](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Continental_Airlines_Flight_11_memorial_Unionville%2C_Missouri.jpg) to memorialize the people killed when Continental Flight 11 was blown out of the sky, on May 22, 1962, by dynamite placed in the waste bin in one of lavatories. > > What’s insensitive about it? > > The memorial lists all the passengers and crew on the aircraft, [including the asshole who placed the bomb](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Airlines_Flight_11), as a suicide device. Interesting that the depiction of the aircraft seems to be based on a 737, not the 707 that it really was. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/50 "2012-07-03T00:48:39Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I thought this thread was going to be about those tacky little plastic-flower-and-styrofoam cross memorials I see by the side of the road marking the place where so-and-so’s relative died because they were driving drunk and hit a telephone pole. I see the same crosses along railway lines where people were killed; presumably either crossing the line at the wrong time, trespassing, or committing suicide. The thing is, engineers of trains are usually trained for a particular route or group of routes, not to mention that a lot of these are on commuter lines where the same crews operate several times a day over the same few dozen miles. Thus, there’s a good chance that the engineer who was operating the train that killed the person memorialized by the tacky styrofoam cross – who by all accounts I’ve read was applying the emergency brake hard with one hand, sounding the horn madly with the other, and praying fervently to whatever god they believe in that the person would get off the tracks in time – passes that cross frequently, if not several times every day. :eek: Talk about rubbing salt in a wound. :rolleyes: And that, my friends, is an insensitive memorial. ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/51 "2012-07-03T05:41:05Z")
Ninoy Aquino’s memorial at Manila airport is a bronzed image of the chalk outline of his slain body on the tarmac! ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/52 "2012-07-03T14:27:50Z")
I was looking for a Jane Mansfield Memorial Bowling Alley… That would fit the OP requirements… ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/53 "2012-07-03T18:30:49Z")
In MA rotaries have names associated with them like ‘John Smith Memorial Rotary’ As our rotaries are frequently a source of driver frustrations and traffic jams I always wonder what someone would have to do wrong in life to get a rotary named after them. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/54 "2012-07-03T18:35:39Z")
Maybe they were president of the local Rotary Club. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/55 "2012-07-04T16:50:22Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Maybe they were president of the local Rotary Club. 😃 I’m assuming “rotaries” are what we in Minnesota call “roundabouts?” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/56 "2012-07-04T16:55:34Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > In MA rotaries have names associated with them like ‘John Smith Memorial Rotary’ As our rotaries are frequently a source of driver frustrations and traffic jams I always wonder what someone would have to do wrong in life to get a rotary named after them. Something really bad. “What goes around comes around.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![benbo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/57 "2012-07-06T13:58:43Z")
Well, how do we think Mother Cabrini would feel having 1 of he worst housing projex in America named after her? For that matter, to paraphrase Chris Rock, ‘…I don’t care if you’re Black or White - in any big urban city, if you find yourself on Martin Luther King Boulevard - just RUN away’. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/58 "2012-07-06T14:10:53Z")
> [@Sinisterniik](#): > > Oh and one more thing: Is there any other country that thought it was a good idea to have [a memorial] where their beloved leader had his brains blown out? Sweden? :rolleyes: > **[File:Olof Palme place of death.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Olof_Palme_place_of_death.jpg)** > > This is a depiction of a building or work of art in Sweden. The depicted work is believed to be protected by copyright. According to Article 24 of the Swedish copyright act, "Works of art may be depicted if they are permanently placed on or at a public place outdoors" and "Buildings may be freely depicted." It has been widely accepted that this provision made distribution of depictions such as this one legal. > On 4 April 2016, however, the Supreme Court of Sweden issued a statement that the fi... ---
**Author:** ![Sinisterniik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Sinisterniik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinisterniik)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/59 "2012-07-06T19:39:57Z")
Well, the part of my quote you changed is the important part. It’s not a tasteful plaque -it’s a freakin’ X like on a pirate treasure map. Should I walk 5 paces and start digging? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824/60 "2012-07-06T20:08:21Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > What that intersection needs is a large sculpture of his mangled corpse… > > THEN it would be an insensitive memorial. Especially since he specified that it should be a good-looking corpse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insensitive-memorials/626824.md?page=4)