Spartacus Guide Ranks U.S. States

The Spartacus gay travel guide has ranked the states (PDF) by several factors including existing laws granting LGBT rights and protections. Embiggen for details and hit the link for the rest of the list.
(Tipped by JMG reader Paulo)

UPDATE: I've gotten emails saying that some of the rankings are off. Fact check away, flying monkeys!

World's Highest Rents

Above are the average rents for "high-end three bedroom flats." The Economist does not stipulate what qualifies as "high-end," but the number quoted for New York City (presumably Manhattan) seems about right.

Today In Mildly Interesting Trivia

(Source)

The Global Peace Index

According to the Global Peace Index, Iraq is the most dangerous place in the world for the fourth year in a row. The most peaceful: New Zealand. Interactive timeline, map, and stats at the link. The United States ranks 85th, just above Angola.

(Via - Andrew Sullivan)

f(x) = ½x + 7

Via the Awl comes this graph which charts the age range of "socially acceptable" dating partners. According to this, I won't be shunned if I date a 32 year-old, nor would an 86 year-old be mocked for dating me. It's nice to know that I have a 54 year range to work with. I guess.

Ain't No Party Like A Midwest Party Cuz A Midwest Party Don't Stop

Red = more bars. Yellow = more grocery stores. Via Consumerist:

Starting in Illinois, the beer belly expands up into Wisconsin and first spreads westward through Iowa/Minnesota and then engulfs Nebraska, and the Dakotas before petering out (like a pair of love handles) in Wyoming and Montana. The clustering was so apparent that we wanted to check how it compared to the "official" data on this activity. So we gathered 2007 Census Country Business Pattern on the number of establishments listed in NACIS code 722410 (Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)) and divided by Census estimates for state population totals for 2009 and found remarkable correspondence with our data. On average there are 1.52 bars for every 10,000 people in the U.S. but the states that make up the beer belly of America are highly skewed from this average.

Life Expectancy At Retirement

(Via - The Economist)

How You Get To Work

(Via - Second Avenue Sagas)