The United States of Shame - Neatorama

Jeff Wysaski of Pleated Jeans wrote "Whether it’s a fat population, high rate of STDs or excessive tax rate, it turns out that every state ranks dead last in at least one unsavory category." So he compiled a most unusual "worst of" list, featuring your favorite home state (Oh, poor, poor North Dakotans!)

Hailing from California, the state with the worst *cough* air pollution, I give you The United States of Shame: Link - via metafilter

Lol. As someone who lives in MA and has driven cross country several times, I can safely say that MA is most definitely not 'worst drivers.' It may have more accidents, but that's more to blame on horrible roads. Experience overall.

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Am I the only one did a double-take at Utah?

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I see some of them list things like cancer. WTF, that's not something people choose and should be ashamed of. Ugliest residents, what the hell? This chart is stupid and the author is the one who should be ashamed.

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On the surface, true, Matts. But Kentucky has the highest rate of smoking and lowest cigarette taxes in the nation (with the possible exception of North Carolina; it switches back and forth), so some of that cancer is preventable. Kentucky also has a lot of people without health insurance, so cancer is less likely to be caught early or treated adequately.

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Where's DC? NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!

...oh wait, that's a bad thing here...

Carry on.

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After seeing Washington State, Ohio doesn't seem that bad.

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Some of the 'worst of' 'winners' are downright scary; some (like ugliest residents) are just a stretch to find something to tag them with. Looking at all the violence against women out on the plains and bestiality (gag) and a few others- I'm not so worried about my home state being the 'least green'. That's pretty subjective anyway... ;)

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ps- but overall, a pretty interesting map! Thanks for posting!

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Most mobile homes? Why is that a bad thing? Or are people still under the impression that anyone and everyone that lives in a mobile home is trash?

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As a NH resident, I can absolutely confirm the ranking of Massachusetts drivers as the worst in New England, at the very least. If you are driving on a NH highway and some idiot swerves across three lanes of traffic to make his off-ramp, 9 times out of 10 you'll see a Mass plate on that car. I've been observing this phenomenon for nearly a decade and it rarely fails to hold true.

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so Ohio wins! And yes, some of these are pretty ridiculous; wouldn't "oldest state" be a good thing since your residents live the longest? Entertaining nonetheless.

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"What is your state worst at" made me think Colorado was worst at doing cocaine. However, when I read the list, Colorado was number one in cocaine use. If Colorado was the worst at doing cocaine wouldn't they be last? I would turn it around and say Colorado is the BEST at doing cocaine.

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Looks like it's doubled up for a few. Isn't "most sickly" and "poorest health" or "alcoholism" and "binge drinking" just two different ways to say the same thing? And a lot of these are pretty vague. I wonder where the author has been pulling his data from. Probably unreliable sites on the interweb. Plus, no one likes a pessimist. This guy is a rain cloud.

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Did I just read that as "nerdiest state"?

Of all the porno rape murder animal fire alcoholic tornadoes going on, their worst is for being too nerdy?

Well, I never!

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I'm a North Dakotan.

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Meh.

I'm an Oregon resident. We have a big homeless population because Portland is the teen runaway destination. I don't exactly see how that's a shame.

Now, if were shooing away our homeless with weird, unfriendly benches, I could see a cause for shame.

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@Parma Police: Iowa is the oldest state partly because of the health of its residents, but also partly because younger Iowans have been leaving in droves for more cosmopolitan destinations.

Also, this map nailed Tennessee right on the head.

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CORRECTION:

Texas has the worst air pollution.

“Texas emits about 11 percent of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions, more than any other state...If Texas were a country it would be the world’s eighth-largest polluter.”

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-01-06/epa-texas-feud-escalates-over-new-carbon-regulations.html

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I'll take ugly over cancer any day! I kinda feel bad for them being surrounded by drunk drivers, rapists and tornadoes though.

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Ohio visits libraries more than any other state? This is shameful how?

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Nerdy is a *good* thing. Go Ohio! But how would they measure that, anyway?

I agree with the MA rating: I've never seen more dangerous driving than around the Boston highways.

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Woohoo! Ohio for the nerdy win!

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As a Maine resident, I can attest that it is not the "dumbest state." In fact I've seen a few rankings that put it in the top 10 smartest states.

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I thought Mississippi was worst in most things with Alabama close behind? I mean, they don't say "thank God for Mississippi" in Alabama for nothing.

I love that Utah has the highest porn usage. Guess that magic underwear isn't so sexy, huh Mormons?

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I'm from Washington - Bestiality. I have never been so ashamed of my state.

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I don't see how "weakest government influence", porn usage, or even "anti-social" are anything to be ashamed of. Actually they seem to be fairly virtuous given how our nation and society are going.

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Being worst at bestiality is probably a good thing.

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Actually, the statistic cited claiming Maine as the "dumbest state" is based off of SAT scores. But if the author had looked a little closer, Maine also had the highest participation rate by far, at 92%. Most off the top 10 have less than 10%, likely the college bound and smartest, where as Maine's average encompasses a greater majority of the population.

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Maine only ranks as "dumbest" because we're the only state that actually puts all the students through the SAT, instead of just the ones who want to go on to college.

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Sorry, missed the comment above mine.

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ummm Alaska? suicide? yes so true! i dont think its cuz of the tempatures. just ppl r odd.

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