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The 10 Dumbest States in America
thestreet.com ^ | May 29, 2014 | Tony Owusu

Posted on 06/07/2014 4:38:46 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- When writing an article ranking the "smartest" and "dumbest" states in the Union it is important to explain your methodology. This list is based on the level of education a certain percentage of the residents of each state achieves.

According to information compiled by the website infoplease.com, as of 2010 men with a BA make 60% more than their counterparts with a high school diploma -- $40,000 to $64,000 -- while women with BA's make 56.6% more than their counterparts with a lower level of education -- $30,000 to $47,000.

And the gulf is widening. Twenty years ago male college graduates only made 47.5% more than high school grads while female BA holders made 53% more.

For this reason there is some correlation between states with higher percentages of people with Bachelor's and advanced degrees also having fewer people living below the poverty line.

One would think that states with more colleges and universities per capita might do better on this list but that is not necessarily the case. Vermont -- number 8 on the smartest list -- has the most schools per capita with 1 university per 36,545.3 residents, while New Jersey -- number 6 on the smartest list -- has the second lowest number of schools per capita with 1 university per 526,764.8 residents.

Average SAT scores also do not accurately reflect the level of education as certain states with higher average SAT scores have a smaller percentage of students taking the test. North Dakotan students for example had an average SAT score of 1799 in 2013, good for second in the country. However, the state only had a 2% participation rate.

(Excerpt) Read more at thestreet.com ...


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To: NJRighty

Camden No. 1 again...

Though 2011 is long gone, it continues to haunt Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd.

In addition to being the poorest city in the nation that year, Camden had the highest crime rate in the country.

CQ Press recently released its official ranking of 432 cities based on 2011 rates of reported crimes in a half-dozen categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and vehicle theft.

Camden’s overall crime rate was more than five times the national average. Its murder rate of 60.6 per 100,000 population was nearly 12 times higher.

And remember, last year Camden had an all-time city record of 67 reported homicides — up 20 from 2011.

Cities with high murder rates tend to place at the top of the overall ranking (which used to identify the country’s “most dangerous” locales) because the murder rate is so low nationally, said CQ Press spokeswoman Camille Gamboa.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/camden_flow/188927931.html#zkFs70Y2B5Orl4SE.99


21 posted on 06/07/2014 5:05:41 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: ilovesarah2012

Depends on how people define intelligence. Nine out of the ten states with the highest SAT scores are from the midwest. Does that prove people there are smarter than the eastern states none of which finished close to the top ten? (snicker)


22 posted on 06/07/2014 5:06:24 AM PDT by driftless2 (For long term happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
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To: SC_Pete
Truly, the test seemed to be on Liberality.

Minnesota was 10th smartest yet has as its...

It's all about the Collectivism.

23 posted on 06/07/2014 5:06:34 AM PDT by Aevery_Freeman (Historians will refer to this administration as "The Half-Black Plague.")
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To: ilovesarah2012

WTF? If New Jersey is one of the smartest states in the U.S., then I’m smarter than Einstein and wiser than Solomon. LOL.


24 posted on 06/07/2014 5:06:48 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("What in the wide, wide world of sports is goin' on here?")
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To: Aevery_Freeman

I noticed that most of the “intelligent” states on the list have predominantly white populations and/or have minority populations that are heavily concentrated in urban areas (New York, for example).


25 posted on 06/07/2014 5:08:43 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("What in the wide, wide world of sports is goin' on here?")
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To: ilovesarah2012

The author seems slightly biased for a black man.


26 posted on 06/07/2014 5:08:51 AM PDT by damncat
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To: Night Hides Not

“Smartest” (#10 to #1):
Minnesota
New Hampshire
New York
Vermont
Virginia
New Jersey
Connecticut
Maryland
Colorado
Massachusetts

Unsurprisingly, since journalists cook the books that way, under their definition of the smartest states all ten voted for communism in 2012.

“Dumbest” (#10 to #1):
Tennessee
Oklahoma
Indiana
Alabama
Nevada
Louisiana
Kentucky
Mississippi
Arkansas
West Virginia

Only one of the ten (Nevada) supported pure evil in 2012. No reasonable person could count the other nine as dumb. I have advanced degrees from the most prestigious universities in the country, and I saw how my classmates thought (or didn’t), so I know there is a huge difference between having a college degree and being smart.


27 posted on 06/07/2014 5:09:22 AM PDT by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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To: ilovesarah2012
Thanks! Hope you didn't think I was mad at you.

I was ready to chime in if TX was on the list. All I know is that when kids transfer into our area from CA, high schoolers are two years behind TX kids.

A visit to my kids' elementary school many years ago started my sister on the path to conservatism. She saw the facilities we had. When she asked the principal at my nephew's school in CA, she received an unsatisfactory and nasty response, i.e. it must be a "white bread" school district.

I prepared her for that, and she responded with "over 50 languages are spoken in that school district, and I saw mostly Koreans, Indians, and Hispanics! And they don't teach Ebonics!"

Within an hour, my nephew was transferred to a charter school.

28 posted on 06/07/2014 5:10:24 AM PDT by Night Hides Not (For every Ted Cruz we send to DC, I can endure 2-3 "unviable" candidates that beat incumbents.)
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To: Pollster1

As I grow older, I place a higher value on common sense vs. book smarts.


29 posted on 06/07/2014 5:11:45 AM PDT by Night Hides Not (For every Ted Cruz we send to DC, I can endure 2-3 "unviable" candidates that beat incumbents.)
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To: Night Hides Not

No, I hate those articles, too, but I figured since I posted it, I had a responsibility to set it out for readers to make it easy.

In my opinion, the dumbest states are those that elected Obama. That’s all I need to know.


30 posted on 06/07/2014 5:12:22 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: Alberta's Child

Anyone who can translate Nostrodamous is pretty smart in my book. lol


31 posted on 06/07/2014 5:12:52 AM PDT by Night Hides Not (For every Ted Cruz we send to DC, I can endure 2-3 "unviable" candidates that beat incumbents.)
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To: Night Hides Not

When I hired people, they needed the book smarts to get in the door for an interview, but once they met that threshold I hired based on common sense and character.


32 posted on 06/07/2014 5:13:48 AM PDT by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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To: driftdiver

Give me a person with common sense over a book smart boob.


33 posted on 06/07/2014 5:13:55 AM PDT by Yorlik803 ( Church/Caboose in 2016)
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To: NJRighty

“New Jersey — number 6 on the smartest list.”

“Not from what I can see in my neighborhood.”

Lots of junior high schoolers, filled with hubris, flaunting their self-proclaimed intellectual superiority to the so-called knuckle-dragging, gun-loving, bible-thumping Christian morons in flyover country.

IMHO


34 posted on 06/07/2014 5:17:22 AM PDT by ripley
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To: ilovesarah2012
My list:
1. CA
2. MA
3. NY
4. NJ
5. IL
6. RI
7. CT
8. OR
9. WA
10. HI
35 posted on 06/07/2014 5:18:20 AM PDT by ConservativeInPA (We need to fundamentally transform RATs lives for their lies.)
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To: Night Hides Not

LOL. With Monica Lewinsky in the news again it might be time to see what else I can find in my old Nostrodamus archives. :-)


36 posted on 06/07/2014 5:19:17 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("What in the wide, wide world of sports is goin' on here?")
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To: Pollster1

2008. 69,498,516 -——— Obama voters
2012. 65,915,796 -——— Obama voters
__________________

4,583,720 -———Voters that died or wised up

Like the French say, “cherchzs les idiots”


37 posted on 06/07/2014 5:21:16 AM PDT by Covenantor ("Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern." Chesterton)
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To: ConservativeInPA

NV - they keep electing Dingy Harry. That’s about as dumb as you can get.


38 posted on 06/07/2014 5:21:24 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: cripplecreek
The Dallas CC system is quite good. I went back to school last semester, taking a "Wine and Viticulture" course. Was it academically rigorous? No, but I did have to put in a lot of hours to get my A (no, my children were not impressed...lol).

It was part of their Food & Hospitality associates degree program, and I learned a great deal from it. Most of the work was done outside of class, no textbooks, everything online. Our time in class was spent hearing about different wine regions, and sampled 4-6 different wines.

I gave the presentation on German wines, as I lived on the Mosel River during my tour in Germany. My message to the students: you can never go wrong with a Mosel Auslese!

39 posted on 06/07/2014 5:21:52 AM PDT by Night Hides Not (For every Ted Cruz we send to DC, I can endure 2-3 "unviable" candidates that beat incumbents.)
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To: Alberta's Child
For the benefit of newer Freepers, I think Quatrain 69 went like this:

Between the Bushes of the Lone Star
Arose the mediocre Leader
A hideous witch by his side
The head of a rotund woman in his lap.

40 posted on 06/07/2014 5:27:22 AM PDT by Night Hides Not (For every Ted Cruz we send to DC, I can endure 2-3 "unviable" candidates that beat incumbents.)
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