Albuquerque among America’s brainiest cities

The report, produced for the New Mexico Business Weekly’s parent, ACBJ, for its Bizjournals.com Web site, says 18.4 percent of Albuquerque residents hold a bachelor’s degree, while 13.4 percent have earned a graduate or professional degree. Another 24.2 percent attended college, but didn’t earn a degree, according to U.S. Census Bureau data evaluated for the report.
…

The city with the most highly educated population in the nation is Seattle. An analysis of Census Bureau data puts Seattle’s No. 1 ranking in perspective:

* Forty-seven percent of Seattle’s adults hold bachelor’s degrees, the strongest proportion of college-educated residents in any big city. It’s nearly double the U.S. average of 24.4 percent.

* Seattle is second to Washington, D.C., in the share of people with advanced diplomas. Twenty-one percent of Washington’s adults have earned graduate or professional degrees, followed by Seattle at 17 percent. The national average is 8.9 percent.

San Francisco and Austin are the runners-up in the Bizjournals.com study, which ranks the relative brainpower of 53 large communities.

Rounding out the top 10 are Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, Charlotte, San Diego, Washington, Portland, Ore., and Albuquerque.

New Mexico Business Weekly:

Thanks to Duke City Fix for the pointer.

Why Do Young Teens Have Sex?

Why do young teens have sex? While a recent study suggested sexy media images might be to blame, a new study shows kids might also be motivated by relationship goals like intimacy and social status.

Teens want their relationships to bring them intimacy, social status, and sexual pleasure — and they have a strong expectation these goals will be fulfilled if they have sex, according to a report in the June 2006 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

WebMD

So, ah, um, they have sex for the same reasons everyone does, I guess.

A penny saved

If you’re 18 today and saved the same $3 a day, by the time you’re 65, with the same 6% assumption, we’re up to $264,000.

Of course, if you’re 18, you’re thinking you’ll never be 65. But actually the chances are that you will be – with an an extra $264,000 after tax in today’s dollars in your Roth IRA, for being a bit frugal.

It’s cheating – but fun – to assume more than 6% above inflation, but it’s not impossible, either. So if we go wild and assume 7% instead, the $264,000 jumps to $360,000.

And remember, this is still just on $3. You could double that if you found a second way to save $3 a day – say by buying one fewer gallon of gas a day by (in the short run) driving more carefully and (in the long run) switching to a car that got better mileage.

Andrew Tobias

It’s the birthday

… of Donald Trump. He’s 60.

… of No-Longer-a-Boy George. He’s 45.

Best lines of last night, so far

“President Bush went to Iraq to boost the new government. That shows how rough the situation is in Iraq when a guy with a 30% approval rating stops by to give you a boost.”

“Ann Coulter is going to be on the show tomorrow night. Security is very tight. In fact, there is even restricted airspace over the studio. Her people are afraid that Dorothy’s house could drop on her.”

Jay Leno

Best line of the day, so far

“This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.”

Will Rogers

Congress gives self $3,300 raise

Despite record low approval ratings, House lawmakers Tuesday embraced a $3,300 pay raise that will increase their salaries to $168,500.

The 2 percent cost-of-living raise would be the seventh straight for members of the House and Senate.

AP via MSNBC.com

But the minimum wage remains unchanged at $5.15/hour since 1997. It would be $6.35 if it had simply kept up with Congressional (self-generated) raises during the same period — 23.3%.

Vote no on Congress.

Thanks to Functional Ambivalent for the pointer.

Flag Day

On this date in 1777 the Continental Congress approved a national flag:

Resolved, that the Flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation.

In 1916 President Wilson issued a proclamation declaring June 14 Flag Day.

The present design of the flag was established in 1818 — thirteen stripes to represent the original states and a star for each state. The current flag with 50 stars was established on July 4, 1960, when Hawaii was admitted to the Union.

The Star Spangled Banner at Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 had 15 stars and 15 stripes.