Some fun statistics

[mkultra]

[bobbolink]

1. wow... that really is interesting. Thanks for posting!

[Just_visiting]

2. ...

These are not to be taken at face value. In order to get a more concise view on obesity, poverty, etc...you must look far beyond the politics of the area (even though I assume it has significant long-term effects). What was interesting, is I find that obesity rates are often lower in some sectors of America, and the significant factor is the lack of pregnancies among women. Then again it would help if we stopped subsiding corn, allowing public schools to sell 'fatty-sugary' food, etc. Poverty is much harder to fight in all cases...but I won't discuss that on a simple forum.

[UrbScotty]

3. People keep saying Michigan is one of the most obese states in the nation

I guess not.

Anyway, it seems like some of these stats are, in some ways, loosely linked to politics - but not all (obesity, for instance).

As for religion being important to people, it seems odd (as it always does) for people to say on the one hand that religion is so important to them, yet at the same time, they vote Republican. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: I'm a Democrat because I'm a Catholic. Being Christian and voting Republican is like being a New Yorker and cheering for the Red Sox: I suppose you could do it, but it doesn't make all that much sense to me.

[chollybocker]

4. Charts & graphs!

Thank you, mkultra! :)

[kentuck]

5. This is an interesting fact sheet...

that shows the average IQ of the states that went for Bush vs those that went for Kerry.

Every state with an IQ of 98 or below went for George W Bush over Kerry. Of course, it's only an IQ test...