Mississippi most religious, Vermont least (http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-01-29-faith-state-survey_N.htm)
Vermont best educated, Mississippi bottom of the barrel:
http://www.top50states.com/average-iq-score.html
Mississippi wants to unload jet on eBay (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100049991)
Well, poor Ole Mississippi - there is yet another first, i.e. the most obese! :-\
I'm currently putting together a PPT poster w/ our bariatric surgeon on imaging of the Lap Band procedure for an upcoming national radiology meeting at the end of April in Boston - have gone through a lot of material, including a series of USA maps through the years color-coded for obesity rates - the one attached is the latest, unfortunately (but, plenty of business for my colleague!).
Now, I find Mississippi a fascinating state, esp. w/ my interest in the blues - in fact, my son & I (many years ago when he was a teenager and also getting interested in the blues, himself) took a trip to MS (left Susan @ home; she had no interest) - travelled from Memphis down to Vicksburg, spending just a night in 4 or 5 spots, including Clarksdale (w/ a side trip across the river to Helena, Arkansas) - ended up at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis for our last few nights - we still like to talk about that trip! :D
Sounds like Vermont is my kind of State, but its weather is a bitch.
Quote from: Bulldog on January 30, 2009, 01:18:34 PM
Sounds like Vermont is my kind of State, but its weather is a bitch.
Don - we've done a few summer vacations there - wonderful! :D
But, having grown up in Michigan, I prefer my North Carolina winter to those in the north - ;) Dave
I'm not the least surprised. I was born and raised in The People's Republic of Vermont, spent my first 26 years there. :)
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Listening to:
Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra / Fischer - Hob 01 088 Symphony in G 2nd mvmt - Largo
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on January 30, 2009, 04:08:15 PM
I'm not the least surprised. I was born and raised in The People's Republic of Vermont, spent my first 26 years there. :)
Gurn - well, now you live closer to
Mississippi, hope that those aspects of 'Ole Miss' in the posts above haven't rubbed off on ya' - ;) Dave
Quote from: SonicMan on January 30, 2009, 04:13:14 PM
Gurn - well, now you live closer to Mississippi, hope that those aspects of 'Ole Miss' in the posts above haven't rubbed off on ya' - ;) Dave
Dave, we Texans don't care a bit for being thought of as "close to Mississippi", thank you very much. ;)
It is odd in another way though, having moved from the Temple of Religious Skepticism to the virtual Buckle of the Bible Belt... :-\
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Listening to:
Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra / Fischer - Hob 01 088 Symphony in G 3rd mvmt - Menuetto & Trio: Allegretto
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on January 30, 2009, 04:08:15 PM
I'm not the least surprised. I was born and raised in The People's Republic of Vermont, spent my first 26 years there. :)
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Listening to:
Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra / Fischer - Hob 01 088 Symphony in G 2nd mvmt - Largo
It's said that people in Texas are religious.
>:D They had better be.
;D Mirrors are probably a bad idea, too, come to think of it.
:P
Quote from: drogulus on January 30, 2009, 04:24:50 PM
It's said that people in Texas are religious. >:D
They had better be. ;D
Mirrors are probably a bad idea, too, come to think of it. :P
Yeah, and it's said correctly too. This is a good place to keep a low profile, or possibly to get your ass kicked during an outbreak of brotherly love... 0:)
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Listening to:
Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra / Fischer - Hob 01 089 Symphony in F 2nd mvmt - Andante con moto
I like Texans, though they need a little correction sometimes.
(http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa110/bucket53/The%20Shining%20II/The%20Shining%20IV/Grady2.jpg)
Quote from: drogulus on January 31, 2009, 12:01:53 PM
I like Texans, though they need a little correction some times.
I do too, largely. The Militant Missionaries put me off though, and we certainly have some of those. Everything here is "Live and let live" except for that... :-\
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Listening to:
Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra / Fischer - Hob 01 098 Symphony in Bb 4th mvmt - Finale: Presto
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on January 30, 2009, 04:08:15 PM
I'm not the least surprised. I was born and raised in The People's Republic of Vermont, spent my first 26 years there. :)
Then how on earth did you become a Yankees fan ? ??? :o
Quote from: Szykniej on January 31, 2009, 03:09:24 PM
Then how on earth did you become a Yankees fan ? ??? :o
It was easy. The Red Sox were total losers back then, and they also only broadcast on radio. The Yankees were not only in their Glory Years (mid '50's - mid '60's) but were on TV every Saturday. Not that hard to impress a 10 year old baseball fanatic when you win the World Serious every year.... :)
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Listening to:
Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra / Fischer - Hob 01 103 Symphony in Eb 4th mvmt - Finale: Allegro con spirito
They drove him into the arms of the Bronx Bombers . . . .
Another skewed survey. The most important thing in vermonters' daily life is the Lake, the second its mountains. It follows that religion can't be but a distant third. Why complicate things?
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on January 31, 2009, 03:27:41 PM
It was easy. The Red Sox were total losers back then, and they also only broadcast on radio. The Yankees were not only in their Glory Years (mid '50's - mid '60's) but were on TV every Saturday. Not that hard to impress a 10 year old baseball fanatic when you win the World Serious every year.... :)
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Listening to:
Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra / Fischer - Hob 01 103 Symphony in Eb 4th mvmt - Finale: Allegro con spirito
The same reaction for my Dad, too, regarding the Yankees and Mickey Mantle during that time but he was from the SF Bay Area. He ended up an Athletics fan after they moved from KC to Oakland, but I think he still has a sentimental spot in his heart for those old Yankee teams.
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on January 31, 2009, 03:27:41 PM
It was easy. The Red Sox were total losers back then, and they also only broadcast on radio. The Yankees were not only in their Glory Years (mid '50's - mid '60's) but were on TV every Saturday. Not that hard to impress a 10 year old baseball fanatic when you win the World Serious every year.... :)
I have to admit that this was and still is one of my favorite baseball cards of all time:
(http://www.baseball-cards.com/jpgs/1963t/1963-173c.jpg)
The Yankees had some great players then and their uniforms still look sharp today.
Quote from: karlhenning on January 30, 2009, 11:07:33 AM
Mississippi most religious, Vermont least (http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-01-29-faith-state-survey_N.htm)
I thought this an interesting passage from the article, given New England's founding as a religious haven and the South's strictly commercial origins:
Quote"Clearly, states in the South in particular, but also some states in the Southwest and Rocky Mountains ... have very religious residents and New England states in particular, coupled with states like Alaska and others, are irreligious," said Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of The Gallup Poll.
I'm also curious how these results might compare with a similar poll regarding spirituality rather than religion.
Quote from: Lilas Pastia on January 31, 2009, 04:35:12 PM
Another skewed survey.
Yes, if you want to get a meaningful result you have to ask several questions. What you want is to find out the difference between nominal affiliation and active participation. You have to put a crowbar between belief and belief in belief, belief that something exists versus belief that it's good for the wife and kids.
People who say yes to spirituality but no to religion might be compared to the New England Transcendentalists of the 19th century. You'd think I'd shrink in horror at such a comparison but really, a little reading will tell that they were just as clueless about what they believed as the modern ones. What they really asserted was their own autonomy rather than any substance, and that's a good thing in itself. So, full points for independence of mind and demerits for not having one.
The minds that the spiritualists didn't have were had instead by a generation of philosophers we now call the pragmatists, the American successors to the British Empiricists. I recommend this book by
Louis Menand,
The Metaphysical Club (http://www.amazon.com/Metaphysical-Club-Story-Ideas-America/dp/0374528497). It's about what Americans really believe and why. I'm talking about people who effectively believe things as opposed to people who can manage to answer a poll question.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/518JX4TWWCL.jpg)
This is interesting, thanks.
I have a hard time with all those little vials with a neat 'ism' label affixed on them. I hinted at this when talking about the Lake and the mountains. Many people have a very deep love of Nature that is rooted in spirituality. Or vice versa. Since the dawn of humanity there's always been a strong connection between the two. Religion is but a practical mean to identify and codify the various aspects of spirituality. Organized religion is the ultimate step, an attempt to strengthen ties between smaller cells. It helps to preserve a sense of identity between communities that are separated by distance (a good example being the Early Church). When those smaller cells form a homogeneous social tissue (one country, one religion), it can evolve into a social tyrant. Back to the question: because of the implied social tenets it can have very different implications from one region to the other. That's why I think it's a bad survey. Even worse are the conclusions drawn by Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of The Gallup Poll.
Quote from: Lilas Pastia on February 01, 2009, 06:35:49 AM
Or vice versa.
I'm glad
you said it, or glad you
said it.
:D It's priggish of me, I know, to think most people unqualified to have beliefs, especially since I know they can't be stopped saying they do, then demonstrating they can't really manage it. For instance, for many people spirituality amounts to thinking there's something "out there", a real life convergence of persons and the Homer Simpson caricature of them.
Last night on SNL there was a charming skit in which Steve Martin is watching the Super Bowl in a bar and decides that the game ought to be decided by a panel including a pile of his dirty laundry and a cardboard cutout of a pile of his dirty laundry. Way to go, Steve!