No, no, we’re not murderous, we’re studious. We’re not kitschy, we’re brainy.

     That’s our shtick today, anyway, as The Daily Beast ranks America’s 55 biggest cities from most smart to least-smartest.

     Their methodology? They included educational attainment levels, percentage of eligible voters who voted in the last presidential election and ratio of educational institutions. They also used non-fiction book sales, courtesy of Neilsen Book Scan. (Why non-fiction? Apparently, reading Dan Brown makes you a lightweight, but Glenn Beck or Mitch Albom is the sign of high-order thinking. Go and figure.)

     Guess  which city was the smartest, which the dumbest and which Baltimorean was quoted in this salute to our towering intellects?

      Raleigh-Durham was Number 1, Fresno was Number 55 and Mayor Sheila Dixon was  quoted saying this:

     ” We are very blessed to have wonderful schools [and] universities,” says Sheila Dixon, Baltimore’s first female mayor, “but ultimately it is the engaged, educated, and active citizenry in the City of Baltimore that deserves the recognition.”

    Somehow, New York scored lower than Baltimore. Considering that’s where this goofy list came from, perhaps the rating is fair enough.

– Aerial photo in Ye Beaste was shot by local photographer Greg Pease. http://www.gregpeasephoto.com/